My Brand New, Secret, (And Fake) Boyfriend
by SakuraKiss444
Summary: A rewrite of my story by the same title: After Sakura, Ino and Hinata get into Princeton University, Rock Lee get's back from the army and keeps asking Sakura out! She calls her old friend, Sasuke Uchiha to help her out. But what happens when Sasuke's old feelings for Sakura start flooding back to him? A very interesting sequence of events. -SasuSaku, other minor ships
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Naruto**

**My Brand New, Secret, (And Fake) Boyfriend**

**Rewrite: Chapter 1**

_**Hello, everyone! This is a rewrite of my previous story, entitled the same, save for the exclamation point has been removed after "Fake." I hope with this rewrite I'll be able to put in better, less immature content, and create a much better version of this story using the old one as a first step. So, thank you for reading, and please leave a review if you enjoyed the chapter.**_

* * *

"Did I get in? Did I get in? Did I get in?" Sakura Haruno spoke quickly as she began to tear open the letter addressed to her by Princeton University. "YES! I GOT IN!" The pink-haired girl jumped in the air and began to scream, both to herself, and for the rest of the world to hear. Princeton was the only university she had applied to, and not getting in would've destroyed her. She immediately picked up the phone to call her two best friends, Ino Yamanaka and Hinata Hyuuga.

"Hello, you got Ino-chan."

"Umm… This is Hyuuga H-Hinata."

"I GOT IN!" Sakura screamed into the phone.

"OMG! ME TOO!" Hinata responded in an equally loud voice.

"SO DID I!" Ino yelled.

"Meet at the café in fifteen?" Sakura suggested. "So we can talk more about it over those cute little cookies they give you?"

"Okay!"

"See you to there!" The three girls hung up the phone and each did their own version of the happy dance.

Ino ran to her closet and smashed open her piggy bank. Gathering up all the money she could to spend on sweatshirts and other various things she probably didn't need. She then picked up the money she was going to spend on textbooks and put in another pile. She told her mom the good news and she was in Ino's room in seconds with boxes for Ino to pack with.

Sakura told her mom the news and opened up her pre-packed closet, containing everything she was taking to Princeton, already packaged, labeled, and ready to go. The future medical student had barely any doubt in her mind that she was going to get in, so she packed early. She picked up her phone, opened Siri, the voice control, and said,

"Siri! Remind me to call everyone in my phone to tell them I got into Princeton!"

"Even your dentist, Sakura-chan?"

"Er, no, just all of my favorite contacts." She put her phone in her purse, threw on a hoodie, and ran out the front door saying,

"Bye Mom! I'll be back soon!"

Hinata's chosen maneuver was to charge into her sister Hanabi's room.

"Look Hanabi! Dad said I couldn't do it, but I did!" Hanabi looked at the piece of paper in her sister's hand and screamed. As if on cue, Hiashi Hyuuga came charging through the door, almost breaking the ceramic kitten Hinata made Hanabi on her birthday, Hinata's cousin, Neji, hot on his trail.

"What happened? Are you hurt?" Hinata held up the acceptance letter and shoved it in her father's face.

"Look what happened daddy!" He read over the paper and said,

"You got into an Ivy League school? Hinata?"

"Daddy! You'll pay for it, right?" Hanabi asked, giving him the sweetest pair of puppy dog eyes she could muster.

"Of course I'll pay for my little girl's college." He said, rubbing Hinata's head like she was seven years old again.

"Oh, and I'm going to the café with Sakura and Ino!" Hinata said as she picked up her purse and headed out the door.

* * *

Several minutes later, Hinata, Sakura, and Ino were all gathered at a little table outside the café, sipping different kinds of tea, and happily discussing what was very soon going to be their lives.

"Do you know if Sai got in?" Sakura asked Ino. Ino took another sip of tea.

"I don't think he did. He applied to all of the Ivy schools, and a couple of other good ones that wouldn't turn him down. He was pretty smart that way, unlike the three of us who only applied to Princeton and then cried every night praying we'd get in." Sakura and Hinata nodded in agreement.

"Which school do you want him to get into?" Hinata asked.

"Out of Harvard, Brown, and Yale, which were his other top choices, Yale. It's only like two and a half hours away, compared to four and a half hours with Harvard and four hours with Brown." Ino sighed. "But, if he gets into Harvard, I want him to go. I know how much he wants to. I remember back in freshman year, before we were dating, he said if he got into Harvard he'd sell one of his kidneys on the black market to pay for it." She put one of the little Spritzer cookies into her mouth and ate it in one bite.

"What about you, Hinata?" Sakura questioned.

"Oh, Kiba didn't apply to any colleges, he's going to start working at his family's veterinary office immediately."

"Isn't that... illegal?" Ino replied.

"Would you rather trust some random guy with some shiny degree or Kiba with your dog, Ino?"

"Touché." Ino replied.

Kiba Inuzuka and his family ran a veterinary clinic in the girls' hometown. Everyone brought their pets there, and when a big, fancy, corporate vet clinic moved in, it was out of business in several weeks, as the only people who went in there were the ones who wanted directions to Inuzuka's. Kiba was the youngest in the family, and had a large brown and white dog named Akamaru, who followed him everywhere. Hinata had been friends with Kiba since they were children, and when they began dating, Akamaru was quick to welcome her to the family, just as Kiba's parents and relatives were. Frankly, the only people in the whole town who disapproved of their relationship was Hinata's father Hiashi, her cousin Neji, and her grandparents, who all believed that Kiba was a peasant and didn't deserve Hinata's company. They were all rightfully ignored.

"Oh, it's almost five thirty," Sakura said after checking her phone. "I've gotta be home in fifteen." She stood up, said goodbye to her friends, and got back into her car, driving back home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Ino was sitting in her now empty room, staring at the numerous boxes covering the floor, and couldn't help feeling like child. She put her face in her knees and looked around until one box caught her eye. It was an old box of Barbie Dolls from when she was eight. She picked up a few and remembered how she had made one look like her and another look like Sai, who she had been dating for almost six years. But, when Ino was eight, all she had with Sai was a childish crush. It destroyed her to think that it was true that he hadn't been accepted to Princeton, but Yale. He told her he'd visit all the time and that they were going to stay together, but Ino still cried when she found out. She picked up her phone and called Sai.

"Can you come over and help me load these boxes into my car? I want to spend more time with you before I leave."

"Absolutely." He hung up and in a few minutes, he was over.

Hinata was standing in her room with Kiba, packing boxes with her things. Her father and Neji were watching like hawks from the hallway. Every one and a while, Hinata would drop an old textbook just to see the terrified reactions on their faces.

"DON'T DO THAT!" Then she and Kiba would laugh, and keep packing. Finally, Hiashi and Neji went away, mainly because Hinata texted Hanabi to create a distraction. Then he hugged Kiba and said,

"Visit whenever you can, okay Kiba-kun? I don't want to spend all my time missing you."

"Absolutely. Don't worry. It's only a two hour drive, that's not too bad."

Sakura was sitting in her empty room, waiting for her mom to call her downstairs. Her phone began to beep the obnoxious tone she set for people she never enjoyed talking to. Reluctantly, she tapped 'Answer.'

"Hello?"

"Hi Sakura! It's me, Rock Lee! I just got back from the army! I also decided to go to Princeton! I'll see you there, _Prince_ss!" He hung up the phone and Sakura panicked. _Lee?_ _Lee is going to MY school and ruining MY supposed to be fun time with my two BFF's! _She thought. _This is beyond bad! _

**What are we gonna do?** Inner Sakura asked. _I don't know. Lee knows I still don't like him, so I might be okay._ **That's doubtful.** _I know, but it's the best thing I can think of right now_. Suddenly from downstairs,

"Sakura-chan! Come on, we don't want to be late!" Sakura stood up, grabbed her purse and small suitcase with her valuables in it, and ran down the stairs to her waiting mother.

* * *

Several hours later, Sakura was patiently sitting next to Ino and Hinata in the enrollment office, when a boy with all too familiar eyebrows walked up to the group.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" He screamed as he ran towards the girl, whose stared at him in horror.

"What do you want Lee?"

"I want you to go out with me!" He said, holding up a bouquet of Sakura blossoms, which made Hinata sneeze.

"I decline."

"Aw, c'mon! Please!"

"No, thanks go find some other girl to stalk, there's got to be hundreds."

"Please!"

"Get the _hell_ out of here before I send Ino on you!" The boy gulped, as he was always afraid of Ino. Even though she was much nicer than Sakura was, he thought that there was something sinister under that flirty smile. No one could be that pretty and at the same time, that nice.

"Fine. You'll come to your senses eventually, Sakura-chan." The pink haired girl shrugged.

"What a little creep, eh, Sakura?"

"You have no idea. Up until about four years ago, he and Naruto would get in fist fights over who got me. Absolutely asinine." Ino shrugged and Hinata bit her lip as Sakura said "Naruto." Her crush on the boy had withered due to an experience with him while on a field trip, when Naruto had broken into the girls shower room and taken pictures of everyone showering, proving how stupid and immature people could really be. Sakura let her angry breathing slow down as the lady came out from behind the administrative desk.

"Alright girls, here are your keys and here's a spare." She said, throwing keys at the girls.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it, plum." Sakura looked at her with strange confusion and anger as she gave each girl a map. "Here's where your dorm room is, and here are your schedules." The registration woman said, handing the girls a piece of paper.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it, Sunny." Again, Sakura shot down the glare. "One more thing, if you get lost, just call this number." She said, handing the girls one final piece of paper.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it-"

"Her name is Sakura!" Ino screamed, cutting off the woman standing in front of them.

"Well, okay then. Goodbye girls." The three girls walked out of the building and to the dorms.

As the girls found their way to the dorm, Sakura was interrupted about five times by Lee, constantly asking her out. Eventually, she got so mad; she kicked him in the balls and called the nearby security guard to keep him away from her. The man nodded and carried him away.

"Wait, Sakura-chan!"

"Nope!" The man flicked the side of Lee's head.

"Get to your dorm, girls." The three girls nodded and ran to their dorm.

The dorm was actually very nice. For a college dorm, that is. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a small living room, and an even smaller kitchen.

"Well, this place is pretty nice." Ino said, plopping down a box in the room she had 'claimed.'

"Yeah, it is." Sakura said as Hinata nodded in agreement. Suddenly, a knock came to the door. Ino walked over and opened it, Sakura standing behind her with a baseball bat, just in case it was Lee. But, standing in the doorway were two girls, about their age.

"Hi!" One girl said in an overly bubbly tone. "I'm Isabelle! And this is Kyra." She said, pointing a blue nail-polished finger at the girl standing next to her.

"Hi." The girl smiled and waved.

"Me and Kyra are the heads of this dorm. What are your names? You don't look particularly American, so we were wondering." "I'm Ino Yamanaka. This one here with the bat is Sakura Haruno, and the timid one is Hinata Hyuuga. She's kinda scared of new people, so be nice till she warms up to you." The girls nodded. "Well it's nice to meet all of you!" "It's nice to meet you too. Well, we gotta get back to packing, so I'll see you later." Ino smiled and closed the door. Turning, she said, "Thank GOD that wasn't Lee! Sakura coulda killed those girls!"

"Yeah, she might have." Hinata said, her previous terrified look gone. Sakura set down the bat and slumped down on the couch they had Security bring up for them.

"What are you doing Sakura? Classes start in less than a week, and you're already being lazy! You have to unpack your room!"

"I was thinking of painting it." Sakura walked over to the door and held up two cans of Sakura-Pink paint.

"What a cute color! Let's get started girls!" Ino said, pulling up her sleeves.

"U-um, aren't we not supposed to paint the dorm walls?" Hinata asked.

"I have white paint, too," Sakura replied, "We can repaint if we have to."

After a few hours, they had three of the four walls painted, and the only reason they stopped was because Hinata passed out from all the paint fumes. While Ino fanned Hinata and tried to get her to drink something, Sakura said she'd go out and see if they made medicine for people who pass out from paint fumes.

"If she wakes up, call me." Ino nodded and Sakura opened the door. Walking outside, she spotted Lee, sitting next to the fountain with a bottle of water and a Band-Aid on his forehead from when he hit the pavement about three hours before. Sakura bolted in the other direction hoping this wouldn't give him the opportunity to find out what dorm she lived in. She ran into the next dorm she could find, and walked out, thinking Lee might be stupid enough to figure it out. She started to the bus stop when,

"Sakura-chan!" The bushy-browed boy flung himself towards the girl, intent on kissing her. The only thing he kissed was the bottom of her Converse, the sole crunching his nose.

"What do you _want_ Lee?"

"I _want _you to go out with me!"

"I already said no."

"PLEASE? Why not?"

"Because! I don't want to be your girlfriend, okay?"

"I'm only going to keep trying."

"I'd like to see you try." _Wait. Ask him to show you his schedule. _**Why would I do that? **_So you can see which classes you have with him. If you don't have more than two, you're good as long as you don't sit by him! _**That's a great idea! Thanks Self! **_No problem, Saku. _

"Hey, Lee?"

"Yes, Sakura-chan?" He said, looking very hopefully at the pink haired girl.

"Let me see your schedule for a minute." Lee's face fell slightly.

"Okay." He held out a piece of paper, which Sakura took a picture of. She handed the paper back to him and said,

"I'd love to stay and chat, but Ino needs me to go to the store and pick up medicine for Hinata. She passed out while we were painting. Bye, bye!" She waved as she got on the bus that went to the grocery store. When she got there, she walked over to the medicine and pulled out her phone.

"Siri, I need you to cross-reference the picture of the schedule I just took and see if any of my classes match those." Two minutes later, Siri said,

"One class matches."

"Which class?"

"Calculus 2 with Prof. Kakashi Hatake in room A237."

"Oh thank GOD I only have one class with that jackass!" She said, jumping in the air a little.

"Hmm. Now which medicine should I get for Hinata?" Suddenly, her phone beeped, the customized ringtone for Ino.

"Hello?"

"Hey Sakura, it's Ino."

"Did Hinata wake up?"

"Yes, but she's been throwing up. Could you get some Tums or Pepto-Bismol instead?" "Sure." Sakura said, picking up two packages, and carrying them over to the check-out.

"Did you find everything alright?"

"I think so."

"That's nice." The lady quietly checked out the medicine and gave the pink haired girl a bag.

"Thank you." The lady smiled robotically. Sakura walked out of the store and got on another bus. She quietly played Angry Birds Space on her phone waiting for her stop. After getting off, she walked ninety percent of the way to her dorm, and ran the rest, hoping Lee didn't see.

When she got back to her dorm, Sakura found Hinata puking in the bathroom, and Ino trying to push somebody out the window. Sakura walked in, handed the medicine to Hinata, who took it in between barfs, and walked over to Ino to see her pushing Lee out the window of their third-story dorm, Lee begging for mercy.

"INO! What the HELL are you doing!" The blonde girl turned around and Lee jumped at Sakura.

"Thank you Sakura-chan!" Sakura picked the boy up by his waist and threw him out the open door.

"AND IF YOU EVER COME BACK, I'LL KILL YOU!" She screamed, slamming the door shut. "Hey Hina, you okay in there?"

"Well, the barfing has stopped for now. I'm gonna go back to bed."

"It's four in the afternoon."

"That's great." She stumbled into her room. The other two girls shrugged and went into Sakura's room to continue painting.

"I really do wonder what got into Hinata. She's not the type to get that sick."

"I know. I'm kinda worried myself. Maybe I should go check on her."

"Don't. She's probably asleep and you know how Hinata get's when you wake her up."

"Hey, that was the best game of dodge-everything-in-the-house _EVER_." Ino shrugged and continued painting.

Three hours, twelve interruptions from Lee, and seven calls to Campus Security later, Sakura's room was finally finished. She started moving in boxes and had her whole closet finished in about a half hour. The only thing finished in Hinata's room was her bed, so the two girls quietly set up the rest of the room. After they were done, they went into Ino's room. Four hours later, they were done. Sakura collapsed on the couch, and Ino went into her new complete room. Sakura had to sleep on the couch for the next two days because her room full of wet paint and noxious fumes.

"Good night, Sakura!"

"Good night, Ino!" Ino closed the door and fell asleep in seconds. Sakura sat down on the couch and tried to convince herself that life didn't suck. **Let's see. Lee's going to my college, Hinata's sick already, I can't sleep in my own room yet, and if Lee asks me out one more time, I'm going to kill him. Yup, college sucks. **_Hey, it could be worse. _**How the hell could this get any worse? **_You could have shoveled your way into a huge lie by now. _**Sounds better than having to live like this. **_Probably not, but okay. _**You sure a big help inner-self. **_No problem! _**Bitch. **_Hey, fuck you. _After a quick swearing contest with herself, Sakura fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

Sakura woke up that morning to a knock on the door. _If it's Lee again, I'm going to kill him._ She thought, trudging to the door in her pajamas. Opening the door, she saw Ino and Hinata standing there with a box of doughnuts.

"Where you still asleep?"

"Well, its still morning."

"It's noon."

"Exactly." Ino sighed and handed the girl a doughnut.

"Thanks, Ino."

"No problem. You could use the carbs." Sakura curled the corner of her lip. Ino smiled and went into her room to change. She came out a few minutes later wearing jeans and a blue sweatshirt that said, PRINCETON on it.

"You should get dressed. We start class today!" Sakura ran into her room and threw open her closet doors. She rummaged around until she found a pair of skinny jeans, a black and pink t-shirt, and a pair of Converse. She pulled them on and came out of her room pulling a brush through her pink hair. Pulling out her phone, she asked,

"Siri, which class do I have first?"

"Calculus 2 with Prof. Hatake Kakashi in room A237."

"Thanks Siri." She put her phone away and grabbed her backpack. She ran out the door and to the class. Suddenly, she crashed into somebody.

"O-oh, I'm sorry."

"It's okay Sakura-chan." The girl looked up to see that she had crashed into nothing but Rock Lee. _Oh fuck, not him again._ She thought. _This is not what I wanted._"Oh, hi Sakura-chan!" Sakura sighed.

"Hi Lee."

"What class are you headed to?"

"Calculus with Professor Hatake."

"NO WAY! ME TOO! Let's walk together! It'll be like a practice date!"

"Practice date?"

"Yeah! For when you agree to go out with me!"

"Not going to happen, Lee." Sakura said, turning to walk down the stairs of her dorm.

"C'mon, why not? You know you like me! It's just buried deep within your psyche! PLEASE!" And something in Sakura head cracked.

"NO!"

"Wh-why not?" **Don't do it Sakura. This is only going to turn to h-** Her own inner voice was cut off by Sakura screaming,

"BECAUSE I HAVE A BOYFRIEND!"

"Y-you do?" **Don't say anything else. Just say you were kidding!** Inner Sakura was cut off again by Sakura saying,

"Yeah! And he's coming to visit me next week!" **We're doomed.**

"Well, I look forward to meeting him!" Lee retorted. The two walked down to class, where Sakura picked the seat farthest away from Lee as possible. There was an empty space in between two girls. She looked at them and saw that they were Isabelle and Kyra. _Oh thank God._ Sakura thought as she walked over and said,

"Hey guys! Can I sit here?"

"Hi Sakura! Sure you can sit here!" The girls moved their bags and Sakura sat down. Suddenly, a ruler was slapped down on a desk.

"Hello students, I'm your Calculus 2 Professor, Kakashi Hatake. It's nice to meet all of you and if you don't like the people you're sitting by, that's too bad because these will be your seats for the rest of the term. Please quiet down so I can start the lesson." The man started to ramble on about himself, saying that the first class should be about getting to know your professor, but Sakura just sat there, cursing herself for doing something that stupid.

**This was the huge lie I was trying to tell you that you shouldn't get roped into.** _Yeah, well I got roped in it anyway._ _What do you think we should do?_ **Like I would know.** _You're supposed to be my inner self! You should know these things!_ **Okay, okay, don't rush me! Hmm… How about you call up some random guy, explain your situation and ask him to help you!** _Like... a fake boyfriend?_ **It could work.** _I'm suspicious, but it's better than nothing. I'll call a guy from my contacts after my classes today._ **Glad I could be of assistance.**

* * *

After class was over, Sakura walked to her next class, World History with Professor Naruko Uzumaki.

"Are you related to Naruto Uzumaki?"

"You know my little brother?"

"It's me, Naruko, I'm Sakura."

"Oh my gosh! It's great to see you Saku-chan!" She said, grabbing her up in a huge hug.

"We're in class Professor."

Walking home, she passed Lee, who didn't say anything, he simply handed her a piece of paper.

"What's this?"

"My apology for bothering you when you had a boyfriend. But, please don't lie to me, Sakura-chan." He said, than walked away. _Wow. I didn't know he had that side to him. I fell bad now... _She thought. When she got back to her dorm, she was jumped by Ino and Hinata.

"You have a boyfriend and you didn't tell us?"

"W-well."

"I can't believe you!"

"Okay! The only reason you don't know about him is because we're very hush-hush about our relationship."

"Well at least tell us who he is!"

"You'll find out in a week. But I might tell you two tomorrow. Maybe tonight if I feel like I can trust you two enough to keep your yaps shut."

"I can't believe that you would think that of us!" Ino replied, turning up her nose.

"Oh, come on. You'd tell everybody. I'm going to my room. She went into her room, pulled out her phone and asked,

"Siri, of my twelve contacts, which are guys?"

"Contacts two, four, five, seven, ten, and eleven."

"Okay." Sakura went out into the hallway and asked Ino, who was sitting on the couch reading a magazine, to pick a number, one through twelve. "Umm… Four!"

"Thanks." She went back into her room and said, "Siri, call contact number four."

"Calling Uchiha Sasuke."

"WHAT? Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! I haven't seen Sasuke-kun in years! There's no way he'd-"

"Hello?" A deep voice that Sakura remembered all too well spoke into the receiver,.

"Oh, um, hehe. Umm, hi Sasuke-kun. It's S-Sakura. How's Harvard? Are you getting your law degree alright?"

"That's not why you called, is it?"

"Not even close. I called because I'm in a bit of a tight situation."

"I'm not a lawyer yet, Sakura, I can't support you in court yet."

"That's not what I meant." At this point, the boy on the phone was confused as hell. Sakura hadn't called in years, and she just called asking for help?

"What do you want, Sakura?"

"Okay. So, umm, do you remember Rock Lee?"

"Bushy-browed, youth-obsessed moron?"

"Yeah. Well, he's going to the same school as me, and kept asking me out, and I finally screamed I HAVE A BOYFRIEND in his face, so I decided to call a random person from my contacts to see if he'd help me, and my stupid phone called you."

"Okay. So what do you want me to do?"

"Well, I told Lee he was coming to visit in a week, so if you wouldn't mind coming to Princeton for a few days next week, that'd be great." Sasuke pulled out his laptop, checked his schedule and said,

"I'm free next week. What day do you want me to be there?"

"Umm… Tuesday!"

"Okay. See you then."

"THANK YOU SO MUCH SASUKE-KUN!" Then she hung up and threw herself on her bed, thinking of what it'd be like having Sasuke back. She hadn't seen him in forever and was shocked he said yes, but she continued her day smiling.

* * *

When Sasuke picked up the phone, he wasn't expecting Sakura to be on the other end, asking him to be her fake boyfriend. He wasn't expecting her to ask him to come to her college, and he certainly wasn't expecting to feel as strangely excited as he did. His roommate Hiroshi looked at the overly-smiling Uchiha and said,

"Holy crap. What's wrong with you."

"Hiroshi, do you know where my suitcase is?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Because I'm going to visit a friend next week on Sunday. I'll be gone for a while, so grab the duffle bag."

"Okay." He said, walking into Sasuke's room. "THE RED ONE OR THE BLACK ONE?"

"BLACK!" A few minutes later, the boy was standing next to Sasuke with a huge duffle bag.

"Here you go."

"Thanks, Hiroshi."

"No problem." Sasuke got up off the couch and started packing up his things to take to Princeton. _Let's see. Shirts, pants, underwear, socks..._ **Why do you need all those fancy clothes? You wouldn't do that if you didn't actually like this girl, Sasuke. You're in love with her, aren't you?** _Shut up inner self._ **I'm just asking.** _You know the answer. You're ME for god's sake! _**Yeah, I know.**_ Just let me get back to packing._** Okay, okay. See you soon, Sasuke**_._ Sasuke shut out his inner self and kept packing, thinking about the Haruno Sakura he remembered. She always smiled. She had shoulder-length pink hair. _I wonder if she grew her hair out, or maybe she dyed it._ He said to himself. _I hope not. I liked it just like it was._

Finishing his suitcase, Sasuke emailed his teachers and had them send him is homework for the next three weeks, just to be safe. He started his homework right after that, also thinking of things to add on to the lie Sakura thought of. How did they meet? When did they meet? Where did they meet? And a lot of other questions he didn't think were important, but might be necessary.

At about five in the morning, Hiroshi came in the door and woke up an unconscious Sasuke, who woke up screaming, "DON'T LEAVE!" at the top of his lungs.

"Are you okay Sasuke?"

"I'm fine. Just leave me alone."

"You have class today."

"I know."

"How much homework did you finish?" Hiroshi asked, staring at the piles of paper and empty coffee cups covering the coffee table and the trashcan full of what he assumed to be dead highlighters.

"The next week and a half. I'm tired as fuck."

"Well that's good! You only have a week and a half left to go!"

"Hey, Hiroshi?"

"Yes?"

"I'm not going to class today. Tell my teachers I have the flu or something. I want to get all this done as soon as possible."

"Yeah, sure. See you when I get back from work." Hiroshi worked part-time as a busboy as Friday's, just to try to pay for the many things wrong with his car. Sasuke had offered several dozen times that he could give him some money for replacement parts, or even just a new car, but his offers were always declined. However, Hiroshi's birthday was two and a half months away, and he was going to get a brand new car, even if he didn't want it.

"See ya." Sasuke sat down at his computer and started working. After about five hours, (six including breaks) he was finally finished. Closing his eyes, he let dreams of his old best friend cover his mind.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

When Sakura woke up the next morning, she remembered exactly what had happened, but the whole thing seemed like a dream. She got up and smelled coffee.

"Hey Ino, can you pour me some coffee?"

"Sakura, you don't have classes until noon, pour yourself some coffee!" The blonde said, grabbing her backpack and running out the door, almost knocking Isabelle over.

"Whoa! In a rush, much?"

"She's just worried about being late for her Biology class, so don't mind her rudeness." Sakura said, pouring herself some coffee and sitting down at the counter. "Would you like some coffee, Isabelle?"

"Black, please." Sakura got another cup out of the cabinet and poured some coffee in. Handing it to Isabelle, she asked, "When's your first class, Isabelle?"

"Nine o'clock."

"It's eight thirty."

"It's also in the building next door."

"That makes more sense." Sakura said.

"So, Sakura, word on the street is you have a boyfriend. Care to spill a little?"

"Not really, but I'm sensing that if I don't I'll never hear the end of it until he comes next week."

"You mean your boyfriend is coming HERE next week?"

"Yeah. He's from Harvard, so he's crashing on the couch."

"You mean, you have a boyfriend who's at HARVARD?"

"Yep. He'll be here Monday night or Tuesday morning. I'm not completely sure."

"So, what's his name? Is he totally dreamy? I'm sure he's got that whole stoic, badass thing going on, doesn't he?" "Umm. I know you wouldn't know him, but his name is Sasuke Uchiha."

"NO WAY!" Hinata screamed from behind the two girls.

"Umm, hi Hinata."

"You're going out with SASUKE?"

"Umm, yes." "I'm calling Kiba and Sai and everybody else! They HAVE to know about this!" _Fuck. I knew I should have kept my mouth shut. _Sakura thought, wincing as her friend screamed the news into her phone, everybody on her contacts that new Sasuke on either chain call or voice mail. She could hear Kiba screaming and Sai saying nothing but,

"Wow." _Creepy weirdo._ She thought, picking up her coffee and taking another sip.

"Is this Sasuke guy important or something?"

"We grew up together." Sakura said. "Where I lived, with Ino and Hinata and everybody else I know, Sasuke was everybody's number one. He was, in the eyes of all girls, including me, Ino and even Hinata for a little bit, the most amazing person on the planet. He was smart, athletic and totally hot. And on top of that, he had just enough ice on his personality to make everybody want him. He graduated a quarter early to go to Harvard. His brother is the famous brain surgeon Itachi Uchiha." Isabelle sat there, her mouth wide open.

"He sounds AWESOME!"

"He is. He's a really nice guy if you give him a chance and first sentences other than you're hot! Go out with me!" Sakura said; a mocking tone in her voice.

"Well, I look forward to meeting him!"

"I'm sure you are." Isabelle drank the rest of her coffee in two gulps and washed out the cup in the sink.

"Well, I gotta go to Philosophy!" She said, waving her hand as she walked out the door.

"You still have fifteen minutes!"

"Yeah, but the really hot guy I sit next to gets there about now, so I don't want to miss an opportunity to talk to him, because if you don't take notes in that class, you won't understand anything for the next two weeks."

"Here's a tip! Record the class."

"What?"

"Get a sound recorder and turn it on during class. That way, you don't have to pay so much attention. That's what I do for my math class."

"Thanks for the tip! Bye Sakura-chan! I think is how you'd say it?"

"Bye Isabelle! And "chan" is correct!" Sakura called as Isabelle ran down the hall.

* * *

When Sasuke woke up the next morning, he remembered it was Thursday, he remembered he was leaving Saturday night to drive to Princeton so he could be there two days early because he knew Sakura wouldn't be able to think of anything to say when people asked more than "Who's your boyfriend, Sakura?" _All she'd do at that point was stammer and somebody would figure it out and the whole act would be over and Lee'd start asking her out even more._ **And why don't you want Lee to ask Ms. Haruno out anymore? **_Because I made her a promise. I keep to my promises._** Sure. **_Shut up!_** Once, again, I'm just saying. Nothing more, nothing less. I'm just trying to tell you. **_Tell me what?_**That when you get there you're not going to leave without doing something stupid. **_Have you forgotten who I am, Self? I'm not the type to do stupid things with no reason._**Okay, whatever you say. **_You really are no help at all. _**All I am is a cleaver visual metaphor to explain what's really going on in your complicated little head. I'm not supposed to help. But you have class in an hour.** _I told Hiroshi to tell my teachers I wouldn't be in school for the next three weeks. I think I'm good._** Alright. How about we go over your plan. **_What's wrong with my plan?_** Nothing because I don't know what it is. Care to explain? So that's your genius plan?** _Pretty much._** I don't know why you get so mad at me, Sasuke. I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm simply the side of your brain that thinks this is a bad idea.** _Just leave me alone!_ **Alright. Bye Sasuke.** Sasuke sighed and flipped over on his stomach and went back to sleep.

* * *

Sitting in her Calculus class, Isabelle and Kyra were flooding Sakura with question after question about her "boyfriend."

"Do you think we should have a party for him?"

"Does he have a hot best friend?"

"Can I be the first person to talk to him other than your roommates?"

"Will you two shut up! I'm trying to pay attention!" Kakashi turned and said,

"Isabelle! Kyra! Detention!" The two girls sighed and Isabelle said,

"We were just asking about her boyfriend Sasuke."

"SASUKE?" A scream came from the back of the room. _Oh shit. _Sakura thought. Lee ran up to the front of the classroom and looked her right in the face. "**YOU'RE **GOING OUT WITH **UCHIHA SASUKE**?"

"Yes."

"W-what?" Lee's hand began to shake. _Sasuke? I have no chance in a million years!_

"LEE! Go back to your seat! Detention for you too!" Lee groaned and said,

"Yes Professor."

"Now, back to the task at hand." He said, returning to the board.

After class, Sakura sat down and called Sasuke. The boy picked up a second later.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"Hi Sasuke."

"Oh, hey Sakura. What's the matter?"

"Lee found out we were quote unquote "dating" and freaked out. My math teacher gave him detention." The boy on the other end laughed.

"Go math teacher!" Sakura giggled and thought. _It's just like how it was before he left. It feels good to hear his voice. It's comforting._

"Sakura? Are you listening?"

"Umm, Ino had to say something. What was that again?"

"I said, it's nice to hear your voice."

"Oh, thank you." The girl said, her face covered in red.

"So, I'll be there Monday night."

"Monday night. By the way, I have class from noon until six, so you'll need to think of something to do during that time."

"Okay. I figure I'll just walk you to and from your classes."

"Also, Lee's in my first class, Calculus 2, so don't kill him."

"Can do." Sasuke said.

"I have to go, class is starting. Bye Sasuke-kun." She said as she hung up. Hinata walked over and said,

"Were you talking to Sasuke?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

"I'll talk about it later. Got to go, class is starting." Hinata said, dashing off to the building next door.

* * *

The next day, Sakura was sitting in her seat in her first class that day, next to Hinata and some guy named Cooper.

"Alright students, I'm sorry I wasn't here yesterday, but I'm here now and we have things to learn." The woman who just walked in said, locking the door.

"Why did you just lock the door?" Cooper asked raising his hand slightly.

"Well, it's my only real rule other than the basics. You have to be on time or you miss class. Well anyway, my name is Mitarashi Anko, but please call me Professor Mitarashi." The woman said. She had her dark purple hair up in a fashion that made it look like a pineapple to Sakura. "Alright. We'll begin class with the first lesson so we can be ahead of Mr. Iruka's class already." She said, "Please take out your textbooks and open them up to page five."

After a long boring class, where Sakura learned about half of what she thought she needed to know about Biology, Sakura took off for American Literature, barely giving Hinata a chance to say "Goodbye."

Once she got to class, Professor Yamasaki handed out papers to the kids and said,

"This is a textbooks scavenger hunt. You'll be scouting through your textbook for the different objectives on this list and turning it in to me at the end of class. Go!" She said, and every kid in the room pulled out a book. A slight murmur wet through the crowd as people began to get confused. Sakura turned hers in an hour early, and the teacher let her leave because she was done.

"Thank you Professor Yamasaki! See you tomorrow!" She heard her say,

"And that's what happens when you finish all of your work early." And the noise turned off. Sakura walked home and her phone beeped as she turned the last corner to walk into the building. It was a call from some guy named Hiroshi.

"Umm, hello?"

"Hi, are you Haruno Sakura?"

"Yes. Who are you?"

"My name is Hiroshi Takahashi. I'm Sasuke's roommate."

"Oh! Hello!"

"Hi, I need to tell you something. Have the couch-bed and a lot of coffee ready on Sunday afternoon."

"Why?"

"That's all I'm allowed to say. Goodbye!"

"Umm, goodbye." She said, hanging up. _That was weird. But, if he's Sasuke's roommate, I guess I'll do what he says._ She thought, unlocking her dorm. She threw her backpack on the floor in the kitchen and went into her room. She put up a few more pictures and went on her computer to Photoshop her and Sasuke into a few places. The latest pictures she had of him were from about a year ago, so she used those. Once she was done, she printed them out on photo paper and thumb tacked them on her bedroom walls. She stepped back to admire her work.

"Those look pretty damn real." Suddenly, a knock came at the door and she walked over. It was Lee. "What do you want?"

"I need to stay here for a few hours."

"NO!"

"Why not?"

"Because this is my dorm! Sasuke is coming soon and I don't want the smell of Lee in my dorm!"

"Fine, I'll just let the squirrel in my dorm eat away at the drywall." He said, walking away. He turned around and said, "Just for ton-" He was cut off by Sakura stepping on his foot.

"Take your thirsty ass somewhere else or I'll be stepping somewhere much more painful, 'kay?"

"Okay, I'll just go somewhere else!" He said, slowly walking away. Sakura sat down on the couch with a frozen pizza and after eating it and watching TV (Courtesy of Mr. Hyuuga) she fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**From Sasuke's point of view. Why did I do that. Looking back on the story, what the hell was I thinking half the time I was writing this. I was so abusive to Lee's character, and he wasn't doing anything creepy enough to warrant it.**

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha woke up Sunday morning and immediately put all of his stuff in the trunk of his car. He didn't even bother to change out of his Uchiha pattern pajamas. A girl came out of her dorm wearing a black tank top and white pajama shorts. Her name was Megan.

"Goin' somewhere Sasuke?"

"I'm going to Princeton to visit my girlfriend, Sakura."

"Wow, I didn't know you had a girlfriend. I think I might like her."

"Oh, you annoying lesbians." Sasuke replied with a wink and a joking smirk.

"You're so mean! Lighten up!"

"Aren't you cold? It's like 40 degrees."

"Nah, I got my coffee. So, see you when you get back?"

"Bye." Sasuke sighed. He'd miss talking to her. She was the only girl on campus that wasn't in love with him, boyfriend or not, so he could have a reasonable conversation with her. She walked back in her dorm and Sasuke finished putting his duffle bag in the back of his black Prius. He sighed, slammed the trunk shut and walked back into his dorm.

Hiroshi was making breakfast for his girlfriend Abby, who had stopped by that morning, and offered Sasuke a plate full of bacon, poached eggs, and toast along with a glass of orange juice. She was a spunky, 100% Irish, bookworm, red hair, green eyes, chunky glasses, and all.

"Thanks."

"No problem." He ate it all in about five minutes and went into his room to get dressed. He pulled on dark jeans, a navy blue t-shirt and his sunglasses. He walked out the door saying,

"I'm going now. I have about five hours of driving to do, so I'll call when I get there to confirm that I'm not dead." Hiroshi and Abby waved and Sasuke shut the door.

* * *

As Sasuke walked to his car, the campus started to come to life. He unlocked his car and listened to girls scream.

"OH MY GOD HE'S SO HOT!"

"Yeah! But did you get Sarah's Facebook post? He has a GIRLFRIEND!"

"WHAT?"

"Yeah! I got it last night. Her name is Haruno Sakura and she's going to Princeton to become a doctor!" _How the hell do they know that already? _Sasuke thought.

"UGH! NO FAIR!"

"Of course it's no fair! He's MINE!"

"NO HE'S MINE!" The two girls then proceeded to fight until Sasuke honked the horn and said,

"Will you two get over it? I'm allowed to have a girlfriend; I'm not a nice toy you can fight over." Then he rolled up the window and turned on the radio, turning it to his custom Pandora station. He pulled out of the parking lot and onto the highway.

"Create course to Princeton University." The GPS beeped. "Turn left in fifty miles."

* * *

After diving for three hours, Sasuke saw that it was about noon and decided to stop for lunch. He pulled into a McDonalds and ordered a big Mac with cheese, a large fry, and a large Diet Coke. He sat down at a booth and pulled out his phone to call Sakura. She picked up a second later.

"H-hello?"

"You sound tired. Did you just wake up?"

"And I'd still be asleep if you hadn't called." The boy smirked and said,

"Do you know how to use Photo-shop?"

"Pictures of the two of us? Already made thirty. Half are on Facebook, the rest are on my wall. I have copies for you too."

"That's all. Bye Sakura-chan." He said, hanging up his phone. _It sure is nice to hear her voice. And I'll get to see her in a few hours_**.** He thought, throwing away the wrappers and refilling the pop. He walked outside, ignoring the quips from the various girls that were standing by the door and got back into his car. Turning the radio back on, he pulled out of the McDonald's parking lot and back out on the highway saying,

"Why can't I teleport." He turned to the GPS and said, "How long will I be driving?" "According to the satellites, another two hours. You will arrive at your destination at roughly 3:30 pm." Sasuke sighed and turned his head back to the road.

_I wish I could just be there already. And if my inner voice comes out and tries to say something, I'm going to be PISSED._ **Alrighty then. I'll just keep my mouth shut.** His inner voice said. Sasuke had the urge to call Sakura again, but knew it'd be more fun to show up completely unannounced.

* * *

Sakura sat down on her couch with pizza in one hand, Dr. Pepper in the other. Ino and Hinata plopped down next to her and they turned on the TV Mr. Hyuuga bought them. After flipping through all of the channels, Sakura turned on the music channel and left her two sleeping roommates on the couch. Walking back into her room, she looked at the fake photos and grabbed the only one that was real. It was her and Sasuke, holding hands and walking on the beach. She looked at it and smiled. She sighed and set it down.

**When did you two hold hands on a beach? **_Well, it was a while ago. This happened before. We pretended to go out with each other before Sasuke-kun left so the girls would get off his back. As far as anybody knows, we never "broke up."_ **I see. So everybody would assume you've been dating until now. **_I'd think so. _

Sakura sat down on her bed and pulled out her computer, wanting to talk to Sasuke, but he wasn't online. The girl sighed and turned on the stood up and walked over to the window, thinking of what'd it be like when he got there. Lee'd be off her back, but Sasuke might kill him. Not thinking, she walked over to the photos and said,

"This one was at Sasuke's parents' cottage eight months ago. This one was on the beach last year. This was him taking me on a date. My parents secretly snapped this pic." She went on about what each picture represented. She typed them all out on her computer and saved it as "photo explanations." She opened her bedroom door and went back into the kitchen for another soda, mumbling small sentences about the pictures.

Hinata and Ino woke up about ten minutes earlier, and Ino was headed to the door, saying,

"I'll be back on Tuesday; I'm visiting Sai-kun." She waved her hand and disappeared out the door. Hinata came out of her room a few minutes later in something other than her signature sweats and grabbed her purse.

"Do you have somewhere to be?"

"Yeah. Home. Hanabi got hit by a car." She said, running out the door at top speed. Sakura eyes widened as she ran to her computer and went on Neji's Facebook page. There was a picture of Hanabi, bleeding and broken on the street. She typed a reply to the picture;

_OMG! I thought Hinata was kidding! I can't believe Hanabi got hit D: And... why is there a picture and not just text? _

Neji's reply came a second later. _He must be on his phone at the hospital._ Sakura thought.

_I didn't think it was possible for Hanabi to get hit by anything either, so this was a huge shock for the whole family. And uncle Hiashi wanted to take the picture for insurance reasons. For having as much money as the Hyuuga do, he sure is a tightass..._

_Well, Hinata's on her way, and I'll send flowers._ Sakura shut her monitor off and walked over to the couch where she completely crashed. But that didn't last long when a knock came at the door.

* * *

Sasuke got to Sakura dorm at around five o'clock. The girls in Sakura's dorm were flooding around the boy as he got on the stairs. Isabelle and Kyra were bombarding him with questions. Isabelle picked up his duffle bag and Kyra took his computer bag.

"We'll carry these for you. Do you need to find somebody's dorm?"

"Yes, actually, Haruno Sakura's."

"Y-you m-mean you're Uchiha Sasuke?" The boy sighed, knowing what was coming.

"Yes I am."

"YOU'RE SO HOT! Sakura's SOOOO LUCKY!" Sasuke sighed again, saying,

"Just tell me where her dorm is."

"R-right. Of course. It's right here." Isabelle pointed to the third door on the right side of the hallway. Sasuke took his duffle bag and computer and knocked on the door.

* * *

Sakura was awakened by the knocking on her door. She stood up and said,

"If you're Lee, leave. I have a baseball bat." The knocking came again. The girl put the bat back in the umbrella rack and opened the door. Red immediately overcame her face as she realized who was standing at her door. Uchiha Sasuke. His black eyes felt their way into her soul and his smirk made her legs turn to jelly.

"S-Sasuke-kun. Your two days early."

"Is that a problem?" He said, walking inside and shutting the door. Sakura went into the kitchen and said,

"Do you want something to drink?"

"Ice water." She opened the cabinet and pulled out a glass.

"Why are you here two days early?"

"Well, we need a good lie. Are there stories behind all of those fake photos?"

"Actually, yes there are." Sasuke sat down on the couch and hid his own tiny blush. Sakura had grown her pink hair out. It was about three inches longer then her shoulders and hung there, a single braid hung next to her bangs, a black ribbon tied at the top in a bow. He felt her eyes were more emerald then before and he smiled as she brought his glass over and sat down next to him.

"So, we need a better lie, you say?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**Once again, looking back, I was way too violent to Lee. That will be the biggest change throughout the story, really.**

* * *

"Of course we need a better lie! Have you given any thought as to questions people might ask about our quote-unquote 'relationship'?" Sasuke asked the pinkette, who had sat down, a foot of awkward space between them.

"Well, no. I mostly just relished the fact that Lee was off my back."

"Of course you did. You haven't changed, have you Sakura-chan? You're still a simple-minded idiot." That phrase was met with a Sakura's thumb cracking against his forehead. "Or I could just go home! I don't_ HAVE_ to be here! But I am, and I'm not leaving."

"Sorry, sorry. Let's get started." She waved her hands and pulled out a huge whiteboard.

"Where the hell did you get that?"

"Ino bought it for when she has complex papers to do. A lie is complex, so I doubt that she'd have a problem with us using it."

"Where are your roommates?"

"Well, Ino's out visiting with Sai until Tuesday, and Hinata went home for a few days because Hanabi got hit by a car."

"I heard about that. Didn't think it was possible for a Hyuuga to get hit by a car. Or hit by anything, for that matter." Sasuke said, taking another drink of water. Sakura clapped her hands together.

"Alright! Let's get started!" She said, pulling off a marker and writing a simple question. _Where did they meet? _Was scrawled across the top of the board in red.

"Simple. We met in high school when I moved there."

"That's the truth!"

"It's good to have a little truth mixed in to a heinously huge lie."

"I suppose so." The girl said, writing _in high school_ on the board. Next she wrote, _how did they begin to go out? _

"Also simple. I asked you out after school on the last day on twelfth grade." _Twelfth grade_ was written on the board.

It took all night to come up with a good solid lie and it took another four hours to memorize the whole thing.

* * *

Around eleven thirty in the morning on Monday, Sakura woke up to find Sasuke sleeping peacefully on the couch. She smiled and began to make coffee. She was wearing a light blue t-shirt that had a picture of a Sakura blossom in the bottom right-hand corner, a pair of skinny jeans, and had her pink hair in a ponytail.

When the coffee was done, she said,

"Sasuke-kun, time to wake up!" The boy sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Where am I?"

"In my dorm, idiot. I have class in a half an hour, so if you want to walk me to class, go get dressed. The bathroom is the second door on the left." She said, walking over with a cup of coffee and a fresh change of clothes for the boy, who was running his fingers through his hair. **Wow**_. He hasn't changed a bit. He might have gotten sexier though. _Sakura thought to herself, smiling as the boy got up and said,

"Thanks. I'll be out in a few minutes and then we can go." Sasuke walked over to the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Sakura picked up her backpack and walked over to the door.

"Where was our first date?" She asked.

"At the ice cream shop on Fifth Avenue." He replied.

"When did you meet my family?" He asked.

"On our seventh date. You made me go to your house and made the whole meal yourself." She said.

"When did you meet _my_ family?" She asked.

"On our ninth date. Eighth, if going to a movie with Itachi and Konan doesn't count as a date." He said, opening the door. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a forest green t-shirt on it. He smiled and said, "Let's go. We don't want you to be late for class, do we?" He grabbed her hand and the girl blushed. _He's holding my hand. He's holding my hand. He's holding my hand! _She squealed to herself, careful not to let that emotion show. She sighed and wrapped her fingers around his hand and opened the door.

* * *

The second the pair of college students stepped out of the dorm, Sasuke -and Sasuke only- was flooded by a group of girls that he pushed away easily, saying,

"I have to walk Sakura to class. Please leave me alone." The girls looked scared and one or two or twelve broke into tears as they realized that he was in fact, Sakura's incredibly hot boyfriend for Harvard. The two turned down the hall and out the building, making small talk about just about nothing. As the two neared the room where Sakura took Calculus, Sakura flinched as she knew what was coming next.

"S-A-K-U-R-A-C-H-A-N!" Lee screamed as he ran towards the pair.

"Get to class, you bushy-browed freak. And leave my girlfriend alone." Sasuke said bluntly the moment Lee got to about five feet away.

"Oh, Sasuke-san. I finally get to meet you." Lee extended a hand. Sasuke took it reluctantly. "I understand that you are Sakura-chan's boyfriend, and that you must have at least some sort of attraction to her, but I would run across the world and back one billion times at her order."

"Then I guess I have to run one billion times plus one." Sasuke said, staring sternly down at Lee, who gulped and ran into the classroom. Sakura smiled and said,

"Thank you Sasuke-kun. You can go back to my dorm and come back when my class is over, okay?" Sasuke nodded. Sakura kissed the boy on the cheek and said,

"See you when class is over!" And then she disappeared into the lecture room leaving the boy all alone, his brain trying to process what had just happened.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

* * *

Sasuke sat down on a bench, waiting for Sakura's class to be over.

_I can't believe she just kissed me on the cheek! _**Well what did you expect? You've only been "going out" for two days! Did you think she'd give you a big fat kiss?** _No, I'm surprised she kissed me at all. _**Right! You were thinking that because you weren't actually going out, that she wouldn't kiss you at all!** _Something like that. _The boy sighed and walked over to a vending machine. He got himself a diet Coke and got his "girlfriend" a Dr. Pepper. After waiting for another half hour, the bell finally rang and the students poured out of the classroom. Sasuke spotted the pink haired students talking to two girls. He walked over and said,

"Hey Sakura."

"Hi, Sasuke-kun!"

"So, is that really your boyfriend?" One of the girls asked.

"Yup. Isabelle, Kyra, meet Uchiha Sasuke. Sasuke-kun, meet Isabelle and Kyra."

"It's nice to properly meet you, Sasuke." Isabelle said. Kyra merely smiled like an idiot. Sasuke handed Sakura the Dr. Pepper and said,

"Here you go. It was nice meeting you two." The girls nodded and Sasuke started to walk away.

"Hey Sasuke, Uzumaki-sensei said we didn't have to come to class on Monday."

"Why?"

"Her reasoning was that it's wrong to deprive people our age of our "precious sleep". I think it's because she's to hung-over to teach on Mondays."

"Of course."

"So, do you wanna hang out or something? Ino won't be back until tomorrow and I have no idea how long Hinata's gonna be back at home with Hanabi."

"Maybe we could go visit them."

"Well, it takes about two hours to get there, and that'd be the whole class, so maybe we could go tonight right after my classes are over."

"Sounds good." Sasuke said. He grabbed Sakura's hand and said, "Let's go out to eat somewhere."

"Where?"

"I couldn't care less. I'm starving. Where are some good places to eat around here?"

"There aren't many. Not any that I can think of, anyway. How about we just go back to my dorm for microwave pizza and an NCIS marathon?"

"Sounds good." Sasuke replied, and the pair strolled off to Sakura's dorm in step.

* * *

**Later that night**

"I'm telling you Neji, something's up." Lee said into the phone. The boy on the other end had called Lee to ask how school was going and if he wanted to come and see Hanabi, but had instead been roped into a conversation about Sasuke and Sakura's relationship, which he believed. _Just shut about Sakura already._ He thought.

"And what if something isn't up? They probably aren't lying. I mean, why would Sakura of all people lie about dating the "amazing" Uchiha Sasuke?" He said, a mocking tone in his voice. Neji was annoyed as hell by now. Lee had been going on and on about Sakura for the last hour and he just wanted to scream _"SHUT THE __**HELL**__ UP! SHE'S NOT __**INTERESTED**__, GET OVER IT!"_ into the phone, but that seemed a little mean, even for somebody like him. So instead, he brushed his long, black hair back and continued to listen to

"No, something is wrong. Sakura wouldn't keep her relationship with a guy like Sasuke a secret. Especially if we're talking about them not breaking up when Sasuke left. Most people forgot about it, and so did I until I remembered that I got an email in Israel saying that they went to prom together and won prom king and queen. They're faking it, I can tell." Neji sighed.

"Listen, Lee. What do you want me to do?"

"You know lots of people, right? Well, send some really hot guy over here who's all interested in Sakura, and we'll see if she flirts with him. Then, I'll jump her and call her bluff."

"That is the _dumbest_ idea in the history of ideas." Neji said. Lee laughed.

"No it isn't! It'll be perfect! She'll have to go out with me after that!"

"And how do you figure that's gonna work?"

"Well, she'll be so embarrassed, she'll have to go out with me to keep her little secret from getting out."

"And if she isn't lying and is going out with Sasuke? You're going to look like an idiot."

"You have to make risks to expose the truth." Neji sighed again.

"Listen, I'll see what I can do. I don't think this'll work. Goodbye, Lee." Neji said, hanging up the phone.

The second Neji shut his phone, he sighed. His uncle left him alone with Hanabi for a few hours so he could pray for the girl's safety, so Neji felt like he had to talk to somebody. The second Lee picked up however; Neji knew it was a bad idea to call him. Hinata had been gone for a few hours too; she was leaving that night to be back at school. He was alone. He looked down at his cousin.

"Hanabi, what happen to you? How'd you get hit? Were you not paying attention or were you literally thrown under the bus?" The girl didn't reply, which wasn't a surprise to Neji; she had been in a coma since the accident. "And what happened to me? First my parents die and then they put this stupid tracking device in my arm." He said, holding out his tattooed forearm, a small scar in the middle, displaying where the device went in. He pulled his shirt sleeve down again and said, "I feel like I'm alone sometimes. I mean, I know I have friends and all, you, Hinata, Tenten, Lee, but I don't think any of them know what I'm going through. I hope you make it out, Hanabi. Wake up soon, okay?" He said, kissing the girl's forehead. He stood up, and walked out when he saw Hyuuga Hiashi walk towards the door.

"Are you alright, Neji?" "I'm fine. I'm going home. Call me if she wakes up." He said, walking out the door.

"But don't you want to see that pink haired girl and the Uchiha?"

"What?"

"They got here about ten minutes ago. They're coming up the stairs right now."

"I'll stay for a few minutes to say hello, but I want to go home and get some rest."

"Alright."

"Hi Neji!" A voice said, a pink haired girl popping out from behind the wall.

"Hello Sakura. Sasuke." Neji said, seeing Sasuke's face appear.

"Hey Neji."

"We just dropped by to say hello. Where's Hinata-chan?" "She left about an hour ago. She'll probably be at your dorm in an hour or so."

"Oh, damn." Sakura said.

"Well, I guess its okay. We were only planning to stay for a few minutes anyway." Sasuke said. Sakura pulled a huge bouquet of flowers out from behind her and said,

"These are for Hanabi-chan. I only hope she wakes up to see them." Sakura said, handing the flowers to Neji.

"Put those in water soon." Sasuke said, taking Sakura's hand and walking into the hallway. Neji ran out and said,

"Lee is on to you." Sakura turned like she was on fire.

"What?"

"He said he thought you were faking. You are, aren't you?"

"Please don't tell Lee-san. I've just been trying to escape. He's crazy persistent and I just-."

"I won't tell Lee. Just be careful. You might want to stay away from other guys, Sakura. Lee's willing to make a complete fool of himself to get you to confess you're faking it." Sakura gulped.

"Thanks for the info Neji. Let's go Sasuke-kun." Sasuke nodded and the two walked down the stairs.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**A/N: **_In the earliest stages of the story, I was asked about NaruHina. And over and over again, I have been asked about NaruHina. There is no NaruHina in this story, and I apologize if that deters you in any way from the story. But, I must say the story is based on Sasuke and Sakura, not on a minor pairing with characters that don't appear very often in the story. I don't personally ship NaruHina, and I think it's just fine if you do. I added a bit more explanation onto why Hinata doesn't like Naruto anymore, and I've added more when they actually get into interacting later in the story. Naruto's girlfriend, who appears very slightly in chapter 11, is not an OC of mine, but a character that is a combination of Hinata and Sakura, taking traits and appearances from both. I understand if you do not want to continue with the story, but please do not review asking why there isn't NaruHina in the story. I just felt like this issue needed to be addressed before I receive any comments like this, as I got several on the original story. -Chiharu _

* * *

The second Sasuke and Sakura were out of the hospital, Sakura had a breakdown.

"What did Neji mean, Lee's onto us? Do you know what this means?" "We have to start going out for real so Lee doesn't catch on?" Sasuke said, his inner voice saying please be what has to happen over and over again. "No, I just can't talk to men anymore!"

"I think my idea would work better."

"And it's a great idea, sweetie, but my idea is the one we're going to use." Sasuke sighed and wrapped his fingers tighter around Sakura's.

"Why don't we take a walk? I mean, we can drive all night, so let's just walk a little bit." He said, motioning the sidewalk with his head.

"Okay." Sakura said. The two set off down the sidewalk.

_I'm really lucky she called me, aren't I inner self?_** Whoa, you're asking me something? I feel honored.** _Yeah, you haven't been annoying, so this is your treat. Now answer my question_**. Yeah, you are lucky. You're hopelessly in love with her, so this is good.**_ And there's the annoying part of you. Goodbye!_ Sasuke thought, pushing his inner self back.

**What the hell is wrong with you?! **Inner Sakura screeched. _What? What did I do?_ **"My idea is better?" What is the matter with you? He just asked you out! Like, for real, you complete IDIOT!** _Oh my god, he did. Oh my god he _did! **Yeah, and now you've gone and blown it. Congratulations, you sure fucked this up.** _Maybe I can fix it. Yeah, I can fix it. _

"Sasuke-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you agree to this?" Sasuke looked down, pausing before replying.

"I dunno. I had nothing better to do. And I guess you could say I'm repaying you for helping me back in high school." The boy said, trying not to scream _because I love you. _

"Right." Sakura said quietly.

_He paused before answering. Sasuke would never do that._** He's in love with yoooou. He wants to get married. SasuSaku foreeeevveeerrrr... **_Will you shut up? Sasuke's too cool for anything like that, which means he didn't ask me out._ **Then why'd he agree to this? **_I don't know, maybe it's like he said and he had nothing better to do. _**I highly doubt that. **_It really doesn't even matter. _Sakura told herself, letting a sigh escape her lips.

"Something wrong?"

"It's nothing. I'm just tired."

"Well we're back at my car, so I'll turn off the radio and let you sleep." Sasuke said, unlocking the doors to his car. The girl smiled and crawled into the passenger seat. She leaned back the seat and said,

"If you wake me up before we get back, I'll kill you," before closing her eyes and falling asleep. Sasuke turned on the engine, a tiny bit of cold sweat forming on his forehead. Turning out of the hospital, his phone began to ring.

"Hello? And can you be quiet? My girlfriend's asleep."

"Right, right." A voice Sasuke knew all too well replied.

"Oh, hey Naruto."

"Hey Sasuke. Guess what?" Sasuke glanced at Sakura's sleeping figure, whose back was facing him.

"What?"

"I'm going to come to Princeton to visit you and Sakura. Oh, and Ino and Hinata too."

"That's nice."

"Yeah! Plus, I'm gonna stay for a whole week!"

"Oh boy." Sasuke said in a sarcastic tone. Sakura turned over and Sasuke froze.

"Who's on the phone?" She asked in a groggy voice.

"It's just Naruto. He's staying with Lee for a week or something like that. Go back to sleep, Sakura." The girl turned over again and went back to sleep. "Look, Naruto, you can come and stay and everything, but what prompted you?"

"Lee asked me to come and visit. I thought I'd call you first and make sure it's okay with you and Sakura." Sasuke sighed again.

"It's fine. Just stay away from Sakura. You still like her, don't you?"

"Of course I do! And I'm not going to try anything. Now if _she _wants to-"

"Stop talking." Sasuke said, ice in his voice. Naruto chuckled a little bit.

"You don't have to worry. I'm aware you two are going out and I'm not going to flirt with Sakura, I've got my girl anyway. _You_ still like her, don't you? But I suppose that's a dumb question, you're going out after all."

"What was that last part?"

"Well you liked her too, right? You wanted her to be your fake girlfriend during senior year so you didn't just get flooded by girls wanting to go to prom with you. So why pick her of all people? You could've just not gone. And besides, it's written all over your face."

"Sh-shut up!" Sasuke said in the loudest voice her could use without Sakura waking up. "You can't even see my face!"

"Doesn't matter. I can hear it Sasuke, in your voice. A lot of my fans have that same kind of tone of voice. It doesn't matter what kind of emotion they're displaying, there's this happiness that lies beneath it. But, that's not the point. The point is, you're in love with her and that's that. Start thinking. Have you two even kissed yet?" Sasuke's face went red at the question.

"That's a bit of a personal question."

"My point has been proven. Also, part of the problem with Lee is that he wants to be Sakura's fist kiss. If you kiss in front of him, he'll leave you both alone forever. You'll lose him as a friend, but he'll be off your back as somebody standing in the way of your relationship." Naruto said.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Thanks, Naruto. I'll talk to you later." The boy hung up his phone. "Looks like I get my wish after all, Sakura-chan." He said quietly to the girl in the other seat.

* * *

When Sasuke and Sakura got back, Sakura was completely out. Sasuke tried everything to get her up, and then settled for carrying the girl into the building. He walked up to the dorm and knocked. Hinata opened the door a few seconds later.

"Hi Sasuke. Is she asleep?"

"Yeah."

"She probably didn't tell you. After being asleep for a few hours, there's virtually nothing you can do to wake her up." She said, moving out of the way to let the boy in. Sasuke walked into Sakura's room and set her down on her bed, putting the sheets over her body. He shut off the lights and walked back out. "So, how's Hanabi? Is she awake yet?"

"Not yet, as far as I know. When we got there, she was still in a coma." Hinata sighed and sat back down on a chair opposite the couch where Sasuke was pulling out the couch-bed and sitting down. Her mind was racing. Her sister got hit, Sakura had been going out with Sasuke, she hadn't seen Kiba in a few weeks, and her father probably still hated her.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just thinking about a few things." She said quietly.

"Hey, shouldn't Ino be here?"

"Yeah, she is. She's asleep."

"Ah."

"Well, good night Sasuke."

"Night Hinata." The girl turned off the lights and went into her room.

* * *

**Two Days Later**

"So, is Hanabi awake yet?" Naruto asked Neji. He was walking through the doors of the hospital with the Hyuuga to visit Hanabi.

"Not as far as I know. I left about five hours ago, so she might've woken up during that time." The white-eyed boy said. The two scaled three flights of stairs and walked into Hanabi's room. The room was empty and silent, save for the noise coming from the heart monitor.

"Here she is." Neji said, waving his hand at the sleeping 14 year old.

"Wow. She looks so beat up. Poor thing."

"I know. You're a writer, think of something that might've happened."

"Alright. Okay. Picture this." Naruto said, holding up his hands.

"Oh, this should be good."

"Hanabi is walking down the street when she's jumped by these two guys in ski masks. Unable to fight them off, she starts running away. She runs into the middle of the street and doesn't see the car coming."

"Something else."

"That's about all I can think of, other than she just wasn't watching where she was going and that doesn't sound like a good story." Neji smacked Naruto on the head.

"You're an IDIOT. You really can't think of something other than that stupid fantasy?"

"Actually, he's right." The two spun around to see Hanabi, trying to sit up, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

"H-Hanabi!" Neji said, running over to his cousin.

"So my story about running from those guys was right?" Naruto asked, his writing instinct flaring up.

"Pretty much. I was playing tag with Konohamaru and his two friends and didn't see the car until the headlights rammed into my spleen." The girl said.

"I'm calling your father! And Hinata!" Neji said, pulling out his cell phone.

"Oh god." Hanabi said quietly.

"Hey Hinata? It's Neji. Yeah, hi. Hanabi woke up. I know, I know you just left a few days ago, but she's awake. You can video chat with her tomorrow night. Yeah, bye." After having the same call with Hiashi, Neji put his phone away and turned back to the girl. After an hour long conversation with her, he and Naruto left, saying they'd come by with Chinese at five thirty.

* * *

**Back At Princeton- Same Day**

Sasuke woke up at ten in the morning and pulled on his clothes. It was Thursday morning, so Sakura had class. A half hour later, Sakura woke up and walked out of her bedroom and over to the boy making pancakes at the stove.

"Hello my beautiful girlfriend." He said, handing a girl a cup of orange juice and a plate of pancakes.

"Hi Sasuke-kun." Sakura said, blushing slightly.

"Listen, you know how last night I was talking to Naruto?"

"Yeah."

"Well, he said, and I saved the call to prove it, that most of the reason Lee wants you is that you haven't been kissed or something like that."

"Really? That's so stupid."

"Naruto also said that if you got kissed in front of Lee, we'd never hear from him again." The girls head went up.

"Never? At the simple price of a kiss, done!" Inner Sasuke's face went cherry red, but his exterior was calm as usual.

"Well, we should see Lee at your calculus class, so then."

"Okay!" Sakura said with a huge smile.

* * *

Ino and Hinata were silently laughing. Hinata was awake long before the two "love birds" and had been listening to their conversation. Ino came over around the time where Sasuke said, "you haven't been kissed", and had been sucked in.

"And maybe Ino and Hinata, who's hiding place isn't very good, should come out and eat breakfast with the two of us." Sasuke said in a very fake tone of surprise. Ino and Hinata slowly came out from behind a corner and sulked over to the counter where Sasuke set down two plates of pancakes and two empty cups. "And what can I get you girls to drink? We'll have coffee in about five minutes, but we have soft drinks and orange juice right now." He said, sounding like a cliché waiter in a rundown old truck stop. Ino laughed.

"I'll wait for coffee. I didn't know you had a funny side, Sasuke."

"I'll have orange juice." Hinata said quietly. Sasuke poured the orange liquid into Hinata's glass.

"How do you like your coffee?" He asked Ino in the same tone. "And I can be funny, too."

"Light milk, two sugars."

"Comin' right up." He said, pouring coffee into a mug, adding a small amount of milk, and two small scoops of sugar before handing it back to Ino.

After ten minutes, Sakura stood up and put her plate in the sink.

"By the way, Hinata it's your turn to do the dishes." She said, grabbing her backpack, ignoring the groan from her friend. "Let's go, Sasuke-kun. I don't wanna be late for class." The boy nodded, quickly refilled Ino's coffee and grabbed Sakura's hand, walking out the door to Sakura's Calculus class.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

* * *

Sakura grabbed Sasuke's hand and dragged him out the front door, the boy quickly grabbing his wallet and computer bag.

"Wait, Sakura-chan!" The boy said, slamming the dorm's door behind him.

"What?" Sakura said, turning sharply and letting go of Sasuke's hand. "We have to get to my calculus class so Lee will leave me alone forever!" Sasuke sighed and re-clasped his fingers around Sakura's hand.

"Fine, fine. Let's go." Sakura smiled and took off again.

* * *

When Sasuke and Sakura got to the front entrance of Hatake Kakashi's calculus class, the two surveyed the area for signs of Sakura's bushy-browed stalker. After about five minutes, they saw nothing.

"Where could he be?" Sakura said, tapping her foot and checking her cell phone at a continuous rate.

"I don't know. You should just go in. We'll see him after you're done with class."

"No, he should be here. He'd never miss class. It's against his code of conduct."

"I suppose so."

"Sakura-chan!" Exploded from behind the pair. Sakura turned around and saw Lee behind them with his backpack in one hand, cell phone in the other. His had begun to grow out from it's shaven state, and was beginning to return to the hideous bowl cut it used to be.

"Hi Lee." Sakura said.

"How are you, Sakura-chan?"

"I'm fine."

"I see you haven't left yet, have you Sasuke? It's been almost a week and a half now, hasn't it?"

"I'm leaving when I'm leaving." Lee stepped back and smiled.

"So, how are you, really?"

"Why do you care?"

"I wasn't asking you, Sasuke, I was asking my sweet, dear Sakura-cha- OOF!" Sasuke elbowed the boy in the ribs and sent him to his knees.

"Would you stop referring to my girlfriend like that?" He said, "She's not some prize you can fight someone for because you think they stole it."

"She's not your girlfriend."

"What would you know?" Sasuke growled.

"I know she's not really dating you."

"And how do you figure that works?" Sasuke said, cracking his knuckles.

"I know you aren't going out. Sakura-chan would never keep her relationships a secret for this long, now would she?"

"That's a stupid reason! I would so keep my relationship a secret if Sasuke-kun asked me too!" Sakura yelled from behind them.

"Listen, Sakura has to get to class. Stay away from her, or I'll kick your ass."

"Ha! There's no way you could kick my ass! I was in the army!"

"Just leave my girlfriend ALONE." Sasuke said, pushing Lee down.

"Have fun at class, Saku-chan," before pressing his lips against hers. He pulled away after a second. Sakura waved and disappeared into the classroom.

"M-maybe I w-was wrong." Lee said, choking back tears. Sasuke stood him up and pushed him into the classroom the second _after_ the bell rang.

* * *

Sakura sat quietly in class, her face red and her thoughts racing around like bullets, battering her fragile conscious.

_Why did he just kiss me? Wait, no I know why. When did he learn to kiss that well? He's Sasuke Uchiha, I think I'd be offended if he _wasn't_ a good kisser. Why am I not paying attention? What is poking me in the head? Wait, what?_

Her head turned to Isabelle, who whispered,

"I saw you kiss him outside. It was soooo cute!"

"Sh-shut up..." She said, her face turning redder than it was during the _actual_ kiss. Isabelle smiled and laughed.

"Don't worry about it! Sasuke seems like a great guy. You found a keeper!"

"Y-yeah. I guess I did." Sakura said. She looked down at her notebook and saw Sasuke written all over her paper in different fonts and sizes.

_S-Sasuke is NOT in love with me, he did that to get Lee off my back, right? _**I highly doubt it. Sasuke kissed you for god's sake! Open your eyes! How long are you going to deny it? He's the Earth and heaven to you! Try to keep it hidden, honey, I can see right through you! Girl, ya can't conceal it I know how he's feelin and who-** _No he isn't! Sasuke is way to cool for something like that! And really? That song? Of all songs you can pick? _**You've said that before. You can't just keep denying it. You love him too, so just make it official! Ask him out for real! **_No! If he's in love with me, I'm waiting for him to ask me out! It makes guys seem weak if the girl asks them out, and I don't want him to look weak! _**You're the most naïve person ever, Sakura. It's not going to make him weak if you ask him out.** _Look, I'm not going to ask him out, so just leave him alone._

* * *

Sasuke sat quietly outside the classroom Sakura was in and sighed.

_Why did I just kiss her like that! That is not how I imagined my first kiss with Sakura to be like. _**Can you feel the love tonight? The peace the evening brings, the world, for once, in perfect harmony, with all its living things... **_Shut up! She doesn't love me. It'd be stupid to do anything more than I've already done. _**She probably hasn't asked you out because she thinks you'd look weak. She's a strong girl, but the kind who would be willing to keep her feelings at bay to keep up your reputation. Which, when you think about it, it fucking stupid.** _Maybe. _**Just ask her out tonight! Take her out to dinner or something.** _No._** Tomorrow.** _No. _**Wednesday. **_You're being annoying. _**You're being an idiot. There, the bell just rang, Sasuke. Go talk to your fake girlfriend.** _I think I will._ Sasuke yelled at no one but himself, stomping over to the door of the lecture hall.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

* * *

Haruno Sakura walked out of the lecture hall in a daze._ S-Sasuke-kun... Likes me?_ Was the only thought going through her head. But she expected that much. But not this. Sasuke wanted nothing more than to get Lee way from her. Right? _Right?_ Sakura sighed and a finger tapped her and saw Sasuke standing behind her with a Dr. Pepper. She smiled and said,

"You always know how to cheer me up."

"Did you fail a test?"

"No, I just didn't pay attention the whole time and now I have no idea what I'm learning and all I know is that we have homework tonight and I don't know how to-"

"Sakura."

"What?"

"I finished this level of Calculus in senior year. Let me see." Sakura held out her textbook and the pencil she used to write in her textbook. Sasuke took both objects and opened the book saying,

"What page?"

"Umm, five seventy-two." Sasuke flipped to the back and then forward a few pages.

"This?" He said, pointing at a page.

"Yup." Sakura said with a frown. Sasuke looked over the book notes and then the questions.

"Okay. I get it. Let's go to your next class." Sakura smiled, Sasuke grabbed her hand and the two walked off to Prof. Uzumaki's history class.

* * *

_Meanwhile; In A Bush_

Rock Lee sat and silently sobbed. His phone started to ring.

"*sniff* Hello?"

"Hey Lee, it's Naruto!"

"Hi Naruto."

"Listen, I'm running late, so I won't be there until about six. Is that okay?"

"Yeah that's fine."

"Alright, see you soon!" Lee hung up the phone and sighed. Naruto had become a very successful mystery writer, and didn't bother going to college. He just didn't need to. He had a penthouse suit in Manhattan and his paycheck had more zero's on the end then Lee could count. Naruto had agreed to come for a visit to see his friends and his old rival in love. Naruto gave up on Sakura three years ago when a new girl named Akane came to school and fell in love with Naruto. Rumor had it that the two were engaged, but they refused to tell anything to the press. Only Lee didn't know that. Lee thought Naruto was still as head-over-heels for Sakura as he was. But that wasn't true. Naruto thought it was a friendly visit. Lee thought it was Naruto trying to steal Sakura from Sasuke. Lee smiled and pictured what it'd be like when he got Sakura to date him.

_It'll be at a party. Yeah... I hope there's a party within the next few days... Naruto'll wanna talk to Sakura, so she'll ask Sasuke to go get drinks. He'll nod and wander off, looking for something to drink. Naruto'll pull her aside and start talking to her, maybe he'll even flirt. She'll smile because she might have a small crush on him. She'll flirt a little bit and I'll jump out, and expose her as a cheater. She'll be so embarrassed, she'll beg me to keep her secret, and I'll say that I'll keep it; on the condition that she goes out with me! Perfect!_

He smiled. His plan was foolproof. And if Naruto didn't have a girlfriend, it would've completely worked.

* * *

Sasuke dropped Sakura off at the door to Professor Uzumaki's class and pulled out his phone to call Naruto. The blonde picked up a few seconds later.

"Hello, 'tebayo."

"Naruto, it's Sasuke."

"Oh hey! How's it goin' with Sakura? Did you kiss her yet?"

"Actually, yes. You and Ayame are perfect together. How did you ask her out?"

"I took her out for ramen after one of my book signings and asked her over a bowl of Kyushu." Sasuke sighed.

"Do you have a better way to ask a girl like Sakura out?"

"Oh my god. Are YOU the famous-with-the-ladies Sasuke Uchiha, asking ME for DATING ADVICE?"

"Don't make me kill you."

"Oh my god. I'm sorry, but this is just priceless. I'm saving this phone call." He laughed again.

"NARUTO!"

"Huh? Oh, right. I always wanted to take Sakura to a fireworks festival and ask her there, but seeing as how it's October, that might be a bad idea. Isn't Halloween coming up?"

"Yeah, why?" "Why don't you just ask Sakura out at a costume party?"

"Because Halloween isn't for another week and if I wait longer than Friday, I'm going to kill somebody. Anything else?"

"You could just say, Sakura will you go out with me."

"That's a shitty idea."

"Yeah, well you've sucked out my creative juices. You're on your own. Bye Sasuke, see you at six!" Naruto hung up and Sasuke sighed.

"Just ask her out, huh?" He thought as the bell rang. People poured out of the classroom and as Sasuke looked around for his "girlfriend." Someone came up behind him and cupped their hands over his eyes.

"Sakura?" The girl giggled and walked in front of him.

"You got me. You're good at this game, Sasuke-kun."

"Who else at this school would do that?"

"I guess you're right." Sakura grabbed Sasuke's hand.

"So, what do you wanna do now?"

"Don't you have another class?"

"Not today."

"Well, Naruto said he'd be here at six, so we has a while to wait before he gets here." Sakura smiled.

"So then let's just go back to my dorm. I don't think Ino has class now too. Maybe we can all go out for a bite?"

"Sounds good to me." Sasuke said, his stomach growling. The two walked along the campus. Lee slowly followed the two, hiding in bush after bush until the pair was entering Sakura's dorm. He sighed and sat down. _Naruto will be here soon,_ He thought, _then, it'll all be over for Sasuke and Sakura's little game._


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

* * *

"So, Sasuke-kun, is Naruto coming in a few days?" Sakura asked the boy walking next to her.

"Actually, I think he'll be here tonight."

"That's great! I haven't seen Naruto in forever! He turned 18 and just left us all. I've read all of his books, of course, and a few weeks ago, he emailed me the rough draft of his new book! It was really good! It's about the girl who's parents died in a car crash and then she goes to prison because of her cousin and then she goes and-" A hand was placed over her mouth.

"He sent me the book too."

"Really? Now I don't feel special anymore."

"But you are special." He said, ruffling her pink locks.

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun. That means a lot." She said quietly, her face donning a bit of red. Sasuke smirked and said,

"So, do you know what you're going to be for Halloween?"

"No. You?"

"I'm not sure either. Is Ino throwing a party like she used to?"

"I think so. I already informed her if she does, that the bedrooms will stay locked with keys that I will have and that I'm not cleaning anything. I figure I'll just stay in my room the whole time and listen to music on my laptop."

"Well, that's boring."

"I need to study."

"But you said you were going to listen to-"

"I'm going to do that too!" She snarled at the boy.

"Why don't we go? If it's in your dorm, we should go."

"And that's why I don't want to go. It'll be a mess."

"You just said you weren't cleaning anything."

"But I'll say that, and then I'll help. That's just who I am." Sakura sighed. Sasuke grabbed her hand and, attempting to change the subject, said,

"I think we're doing a pretty good job of being a fake couple, aren't we?" Sakura turned to look at him.

"Wait, if Lee's off my back, why are you still here?"

"Because Naruto's coming and I can't leave you with Lee _and_ that dumbass." Sasuke muttered. _His voice is quieter than usual. What's with him today? _Sakura thought.

"But isn't he dating that girl he met at his first book signing; Ayame?"

"I think so." Sakura smiled and said,

"Well than you can leave! You don't need to be here if Naruto already has a girlfriend!"

"But Lee doesn't know Naruto's dating Ayame. He was in Israel at the time they got together and hasn't heard a word about it from anyone." Sasuke replied icily, rubbing his pitch black hair with his hand.

"Oh yeah." Sakura said quietly.

* * *

Lee sat in the bush with a pencil and a sheet of paper, his plan written out accordingly. "This is going to be perfect, Neji!" Lee quipped into the phone. The Hyuuga sighed. "I still think this is stupid. Naruto has a gi-"

"So here's the plan. Naruto is coming tonight and when he sees how pretty Sakura is, he'll be taken back by her beauty."

"Lee, Naruto has been da-"

"And then, he'll come to Ino's Halloween party in three days and of course, Sasuke and Sakura are there, faking their relationship as usual. So, Naruto goes over to talk to his friends and then Sakura'll ask Sasuke to go get her something to drink."

"Lee, Ayame is Naruto's gi-"

"Neji, I'm trying to explain this. So, Naruto will start talking to Sakura and maybe I can get Naruto to kiss her and then, Sasuke won't care and Sakura will confess her secret love for Naruto and I'll jump in and make her go out with me because she'll be so scared, she'll agree for fear of me telling her secret to the whole campus!" Lee yelled, punching his fist in the air.

"Lee that is the most idiotic plan ev-"

"I have to go. See ya later, Neji!" Lee called into the phone before pushing a button and sighing. "This is going to be perfect."

* * *

"Naruto-kun! Why are you packing a bag?" Naruto turned around in his Manhattan penthouse and saw his girlfriend Ayame Ishii, standing in the doorway, with a slight look of fear in her eyes.

"I'm going to visit some friends from high school at Princeton. You wanna come?"

"Could I come?"

"Yeah, of course!" Naruto replied. "I'm sure Lee won't mind." Ayame's green eyes sparkled. Her black hair flipped behind her back and she went over to the closet for her suitcase.

"How long will it take to get there?"

"Not long. An hour and a half, two hours, 'tebayo?"

"Okay! It's just, you need to clean your car before we go."

"I'll get it washed."

"I mean, clean the inside! You have a $200,000 Ferrari and nobody breaks into it because it's a pigsty!"

"I know. That's my strategy."

"Naruto-kun..."

"Fin, fine. I'll take it to the car cleaning place after we finish packing." Naruto said, closing the top of the suitcase and then sitting on top of it while Ayame snapped the clasps that closed it.

"Ooh! This is gonna be so much fun!" Ayame said happily.

"Yeah! I haven't seen Sakura, Ino, Hinata, or Sasuke since senior year, 'tebayo! And I haven't seen Lee in years!" Ayame smiled and shut her own suitcase.

"Now take your car to the cleaning place. NOW." Naruto gulped and took off.

* * *

After all of Sakura's classes were over, she and Sasuke helped Ino set up for the party on Friday. There was about five hundred dollars worth of food in the fridge, as well as a new, larger fridge, all courtesy of Hiashi Hyuuga (by request of Hanabi Hyuuga). Sakura went into her room and turned on her computer, looking for somebody to video chat with. Neji, Sai, Hinata and Shikamaru were online. She moved the mouse over Neji's name and clicked. The face of the Hyuuga appeared on the screen a second later.

"Hey Sakura, what's up?"

"I was just wondering if Hanabi had woken up yet."

"Hinata didn't tell you? She woke up about a little while ago."

"Really? That's great! How's she doing?"

"Pretty well. She went out and got an eye exam and glasses."

"Really? Send me a picture!"

"I'll just show you." His head turned behind him. "Hanabi! C'mere!" The face of Hinata's little sister appeared.

"Those look so cute on you, Hanabi-chan! But why do you need them?" The Hyuuga smiled.

"I wasn't aware that a car was coming when it hit me. I need glasses so I can tell next time! And tell Hinata I said hi!" Hanabi's face disappeared.

"She's doing pretty well!"

"Yeah. Well, I'll see you later Sakura. I'm going to dinner."

"Bye Neji!" Sakura shut her laptop and Sasuke came in.

"Hi Sasuke-kun."

"Something wrong?"

"No. I'm just tired."

"Well, I'll let you sleep." Sasuke leaned in and pecked her on the lips before standing up, and closing the door behind him, leaving a red-faced Sakura sitting on her bed, wondering just what the hell happened.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

* * *

_Wh-what the hell just happened?!_ Sakura thought, her face as pink as her hair. She felt tense, and sat frozen in that spot. The first kiss, she knew was going to happen. It was planned. This; this was not. This was completely out of nowhere. And it worried Sakura. A window popped up on her laptop, and Sakura forced her eyes down to look at it. A video chat.

"SakeLuvr69. Of course." Sakura said, clicking the "Accept" button. The face of Tsunade, Sakura's aunt, appeared on the screen. "Hi Tsunade. How are you?"

"I'm okay. How're you, Saku-chan?"

"I'm okay. Sasuke's here visiting me for a couple more days to make sure Lee's off my back."

"Weren't you dating him in high school?"

"Yeah."

"Or are you faking it like you were then?" The woman said, a cocky smirk plastering her features.

"What?" Sakura said, about to throw up from nervousness.

"COME. ON. I could see that you two were faking it from the fact that you were a completely non-couple. Neither of you held hands or even acted in love, but people were just so angry by the fact that EVERYBODY saw you two go get ice cream that ONE time."

"Well that's their own fault." Sakura barely choked out. _How many people knew?! Was it just Tsunade, or were there others? What if Naruto knows?! What if Lee really_ does _know!? _

"You okay, Saku?"

"Just panicking a little bit. Why?"

"Hahaha. No reason." The woman said, her eyes flicking to the right a little bit. "I've gotta go, Saku-chan. I'll see you later!"

"Him again?" Sakura asked, her aunt's fiancée, who was a horrible influence on Naruto his entire life. Sakura was just grateful Naruto didn't write the same kind of books he did.

"You know it. Bye Saku-chan!"

"Bye, Tsunade!" Sakura closed her laptop and set it on the floor. She lay down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling, blushing, and remembered the first time Sasuke asked her out.

* * *

**15 Months Prior**

_Spring Break had just ended, which meant that prom was coming up. Uchiha Sasuke loathed dances of any kind. Every girl in the whole school asked him to said dance, save a few girls here and there. Including Haruno Sakura. She was different. Save for her, Hinata and some girl no one knew the name of, she was the only one that hadn't poured out her feelings in some crazy way. Sasuke had turned them all down, and Hinata and Sakura were standing in front of him now. _

_"You broke my friend's hearts." Sakura said. She had a strong will, Sasuke could tell. Hinata, not even a little bit._

_"So? I don't want to go to prom with them. Why would I have to say yes?"_

_"Because it's nice."_

_"Well, I can't say yes to two hundred girls, can I?"_

_"No, but you could have said yes to somebody."_

_"Are you asking?" He said with a smirk. Sakura blushed a little bit._

_"No. Why would I want to date a stuck-up prick like you?"_

_"Because you blushed when I said that." Sakura backhand slapped him and walked away with Hinata._

_A few days later, Sasuke couldn't go to school without a huge group of girls crowding him at all times. _

_"Hey!" A voice called. Sasuke turned around to see Naruto waving at him, Kiba, Neji and Sai with him. _

_"Hey." Sasuke said, brushing off the fangirls and walking towards the group. _

_"So, what's it like to have every girl in school swoon over you?" Kiba asked, crossing his arms behind his head. _

_"It sucks. They don't get that I don't want to go."_

_"Oh, come on! You have to go to prom!"_

_"I'm leaving for Harvard in a month," Sasuke started. "Why should I have to? There's going to be plenty of parties there I can go to." _

_"Don't be such an ass, dipshit!" Naruto said. _

_"Just ask a girl out. She doesn't even have to be your real girlfriend," Neji said. "She can be just some girl that wouldn't pass out if you held her hand."_

_"Yeah! Show her around and all those girls are gone like that!" Naruto said, snapping his fingers._

_"Fine, dumbass. I'll get a girlfriend. And a real one, because all that fake girlfriend shit is retarded."_

_"Yeah!" A beeping noise exploded over their heads and each one of them walked into a different class. Sasuke had Chemistry next, and he took a seat right next to Haruno Sakura, to busy scribbling in her notebook to see him sit down. _

_"Alright class," A man said at the board. "We're going to start today's class with a lab. Please find a partner and sit down with them." People stood up immediately and screamed across the room, trying to make sure their BFF was their lab partner. _

_"Hey Sakura," Sasuke began. "Do you want to be my partner for the lab?" The pinkette's head turned to him and have him a funny look. "Well?" He said with a smirk. Sakura melted inside, but kept her priorities straight._

_"Humph. Fine." Sasuke scooted his desk over to hers. _

_"Sarutobi-sensei, we're ready." Sasuke said coolly. Every girl in the room froze when they saw Sakura was sitting next to him._

_"Alright, one of you, please come up and get your materials and begin." Sakura walked up to the front of the room and Sasuke was instantly surrounded by girls._

_"Why, Sasuke-kun?!"_

_"I thought you liked _me_ Sasuke-kun!" _

_"Leave him alone." Sakura said, sitting back down. As the crowd disintegrated, Sasuke said,_

_"Can I ask you something?" _

_"Sure." Sakura replied, focusing the microscope a little bit more and scribbling something on her and Sasuke's papers. _

_"Will you go out with me?" The led on her pencil broke, duly noted by Sasuke._

_"Wh-what?" _

_"Will. You. Go. Out. With. Me? It's a pretty simple question. And really, you don't even have to be my girlfriend. You'd be my fake girlfriend." _

_"Fake? That sounds complicated."_

_"Not really. You pretend to go out with me until I leave for Harvard next month." _

_"Oh yeah, I forgot you got an early acceptance." She said, covering her blush by finishing her paper. "Copy this down." She said, handing him both papers. _

_"Thanks."_

_"So, does that mean I have to go to prom with you?"_ _"_

_Well, yes. That's the reason I'm asking you out. So you can to go prom with me and make the fangirls go away."_

_"R-right." She stood up and put all the equipment away. When the bell rang, Sasuke walked out of the room holding Sakura's hand, followed by a mob of angry fangirls. _

_"SASUKE-KUN!" Girls were screaming. _

_"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU SAKURA!" Others screamed. _

_"This is going to be a long month..." Sakura breathed as Sasuke left her at her locker and walked to his next class. _

_"So, y-you're going out w-with Sasuke-kun?" A voice behind her said quietly. _

_"Yeah!" Sakura said, turning around to see Hinata and Ino behind her. _

_"That's awesome! But what's gonna happen when Sasuke goes off to Harvard in a month?" Ino asked. _

_"I'm trying not to think about that..." Sakura said, pretending to be very interested in the pictures of her and her friends on her locker door. _

_"Oh, well sorry for bringing it up!" _

_Sasuke was barely paying attention to his Calculus 2 class. Instead, he was thinking about Sakura. A guy like him shouldn't be blushing thinking about a girl. He was an Uchiha for god's sake! Itachi always told him that when he started to open up to a girl, that she'd be "the one" or something._

So, does that mean I'm in love with Sakura? I mean, Itachi and Konan are perfect together, but that doesn't mean I'm going to be exactly like Itachi in every way. I'm not going to become a surgeon like him, and my girlfriend doesn't have blue hair, although pink hair is about as unnatural as blue, so I guess it's kinda the same, but still different._ He thought, tapping his pencil on a piece of paper. _

_"a=42" He said, after the teacher pointed at him. _

_"Very good, Sasuke. Now, can somebody explain why this is correct?" _Sakura seems to be more of the person who doesn't want or need to be in a relationship, so it probably didn't even matter much to her when I asked, but still. If Sakura doesn't actually want this, I still owe her a huge solid when this shit is over.

_"Sasuke. Sasuke? UCHIHA!"_

_"Huh?!" Sasuke said, his head shooting up from his paper. _

_"Would you care to tell the class what you're so busy thinking about?"_

_"Not really..." He said with a sheepish smile. The teacher huffed. _

_"Very well, just stop daydreaming about your next girlfriend." Several boys snickered around the room and more crazed fans freaked out. Sasuke kept his gaze on the floor, his shoes were very interesting right now. The bell beeped above them and Sasuke was up and out in about seven seconds. _

_A few hours later, Sasuke met Sakura at her locker. _

_"Hey." The pinkette said when she saw him. _

_"Hi." Sasuke replied. "_

_You wanna grab something to eat, pizza or ice cream?" Sakura asked, sliding her Calculus textbook and folder into her backpack, her arm being yanked down at the added weight._

_"Here." Sasuke said, holding the backpack for her as she added another textbook. _

_"Thanks!" She said, pulling it over her back and walking out to Sasuke's car. "So, up for ice cream?" _

_Sasuke's brand new Ford Fusion pulled up to the Dairy Queen in the middle of town. _

_"So, when's your birthday, Sasuke-kun?"_

_"July 23rd. You?"_

_"March 28th. You're birthday's coming up!"_

_"In almost four months. It's only April 23rd." He said, pulling the keys out of the ignition. _

_"I know, but you'll come home for your birthday, right?"_

_"Actually, I'm going to the Bahamas' with my brother and Konan."_

_"Oh." Sakura said, staring at the floor. _

_"Are you two gonna order or what?" The man said. _

_"KIBA?!" Sakura screamed. _

_"Yeah... I get all the hot girls coming in on hot days for ice cream, and if they're lucky, they get my digits on their change." He said with a smirk. _

_"Aren't you and Hinata going to prom together?" Sasuke asked, slightly confused. _

_"That's all a sham to get Naruto jealous," He said, filling a cup with ice cream and walking to the blizzard machine, knowing what Sakura wanted already. "It doesn't matter if I window shop a little bit."_

_"But you're in love with Hinata..." Sakura said as he handed her a blizzard and asked for Sasuke's order. _

_"Meh. It's not like THAT would ever happen. She doesn't care about me. All I am is the key to getting Naruto's attention, even though that guy's an ass. But she doesn't understand Naruto at all. She thinks that if she goes for me, he'll notice her."_

_"Ha like that would ever happen..." Sasuke said, looking through his wallet for his student ID. _

_"That'll be $14.27." Kiba said. Sasuke handed him a $20, and waved for him to keep the change. _

_"Thanks Kiba! See you later!" Sakura said, waving at Kiba, who was now cleaning off a few mugs. _

_"SASUKE-KUN?!" Tons of girls screamed as he and Sakura walked outside. _

_"What?" He said, wrapping his arm around Sakura's shoulder and walking towards his car._

_"I think that went well." Sakura said as Sasuke honked at a group of angry fangirls surrounding the car. _

_"I think so too." Sasuke said, pulling his car out into the street and driving off to Sakura's house._

* * *

Rock Lee was setting a few more blankets on the extra bed and whistling to himself. The time read 5:17 pm, so he had a few extra minutes before Naruto got there and he could put his plan into action.

Naruto and Ayame were standing outside the door of Lee's dorm building. "Is this the right place?" Naruto asked.

"The hell would I know?"

"I don't know." He said, scratching his head. "Well, let's give it a try."

A knock came to Lee's door.

"Hey, Lee! Is this your dorm, 'tebayo?" Lee did a happy dance and opened the door, revealing Naruto and a very pretty girl with green eyes and black hair. "Hey Lee, how's it going? This is my girlfriend Ayame."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

* * *

Lee stood at the door, mouth agape at the pair.

_Naruto was supposed to be SINGLE! How's my plan supposed to work NOW?!_ He scream-thought.

"Lee? What's wrong?"

"N-nothing." He replied, "please, come in. I've got Chinese on the way- is that okay?"

"Awesome!" Naruto replied.

"I also only have two bedrooms, and other is being taken up by my roommate, Kyle, so I made sure to clean my room so you can sleep in there and I can take the couch-bed. The fridge has pop, juice, milk, and water in it, incase you're thirsty, and cups are in the cupboard two to the left of the microwave, and the bathroom is directly to the left of your bedroom, which is right here. Pardon the bit of mess still left, I was under the impression that I had another few minutes." Lee threw open his bedroom door.

"Mess?" Naruto asked. "What mess? This room could pass a military inspection!"

"It's how I was taught in the army, and I was quick to pick it up and slow to let it go. I'm really good at cleaning in general, actually. It keeps one youthful to do a lot of tough jobs, such as cleaning a horrifying dorm bathroom."

"How horrifying is horrifying?" Ayame asked cautiously.

"There was fungus growing in a corner by the toilet. But please do not worry, it is completely gone. You wouldn't even know it was ever there." Lee opened the bathroom door, which seemed to sparkle like the bathrooms Naruto had seen in cartoons.

"Damn. You could eat on this toilet seat."

"I still wouldn't suggest that." Lee replied. A knock on the door signified the arrival of their dinner.

* * *

Naruto and Ayame were up and out of Lee's dorm by nine a.m., not wanting to disturb him. They went to Sakura's dorm instead. Their knock on the door was met with a smiling pinkette.

"Oh, hey Naruto! Ayame! I haven't seen you in forever!" Sakura said, hugging Ayame and smiling at Naruto.

"Hey." Sasuke offered a wave and continued staring down at his phone, answering emails from his parents, brother, and professors.

"Sasuke! Be social!"

"I'd rather not." Naruto chuckled.

"So Sakura, how've you been?"

"Pretty good," She replied. "I mean, Lee's kinda off my back now, so at least that's okay..." Her voice trailed off and she let the pair into her dorm.

Ino was drinking coffee at the table and ran over to hug the pair the second she saw them, her blonde hair flicking against her waist.

"How are you both? It's great to finally meet you, Ayame! I love your haircut so much. Who did it?"

"To be honest," Ayame replied, "a stylist in NYC a college student could only dream of being able to afford."

"Really? Dammit. I have never seen bangs that perfect before." Ino replied, putting her hands on her hips an pouting.

"H-hey Naruto." Hinata stuttered as Naruto gave her a huge smile.

"How's it going, Hinata?"

"F-fine." She replied, pouring more coffee down her throat.

"That's cool, 'tebayo!" Hinata smiled weakly and walked into her bedroom to hide, wondering if Naruto still had those pictures of her naked butt from the field trip.

"So Naruto," Ino started, handing the blonde a cup of coffee. "Rumor has it you're writing another book." She took a sip of coffee condescendingly and stared at him, waiting for a reaction.

"Uh, well my publisher said I can't tell anybo-"

"It's really great! It's actually _not _another edition to his series, which is weird because you'd figure his top priority right now would be to finish up the series, since it's such a good one! He didn't email the finished copy to you? I know Sasuke and Sakura got it." Ayame said, finishing her mug and beckoning for another one.

"No, no he didn't." The blonde said through clenched teeth.

"I-I'll send it to you tomorrow!" Naruto said quickly. "I left my laptop at Lee's."

"Damn right you will." Ino hissed. She had set down her coffee and was now setting up some decorations for her party. "You four ARE coming to my party tomorrow night, right?"

"Ayame and I are," Naruto said. "I'm not sure about Sasuke and Sakura."

"I guess we're coming," Sakura said. "But remember, I'm not cleaning anything up, understand?"

"I got it, I got it." Ino said, motioning to Sasuke to bring her a chair. She did and Ino climbed up, sticking a few spider webs to the ceiling and putting a few small fake spiders in them.

"So Sakura," Ayame started. "When did Sasuke come over here?"

"A few weeks ago," Sasuke answered.

"She wanted Lee off her back, so I came to put him in his place."

"Well it seems like Lee-san was MIGHTY pissed that Ayame was there, 'tebayo. He let us in and semi-indiscreetly cried for two hours." Naruto said, draining the rest of his coffee and setting on the counter.

Sakura couldn't help but laugh out loud. She knew what he was going to try to do. He wanted Naruto to try to fall in love with her. And he wanted her to break up with Sasuke. That all turned to shit when Ayame showed up with Naruto at Lee's doorstep.

The pinkette contained her laughter and went into her bedroom, pulling out the recording Neji had sent her, explaining in detail, Lee's plan. She showed the phone to Naruto and Ayame first, then to Sasuke, then finally to her blonde roommate.

"Seriously?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Uh-huh." Sakura was biting her lip, trying to stop her ear-to-ear grin.

"Well, what do we do, 'tebayo?"

"I know exactly what we'll do." Ino said, letting her own grin explode onto her lips.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

* * *

"That seems... risky." Ayame said nervously.

"I agree with Ayame." Sasuke said.

"Me too, 'tebayo."

"I think we could pull it off." Sakura said. Ino agreed, as did Hinata, who had come out of hiding in her bedroom.

"C'mon Sasuke-kun!" Sakura whined. "If you don't play along it won't work!" He sighed.

"I don't know why I should."

"Because! You're my boyfriend and Lee is suspicious of that, so we have to remove his doubt and he'll be off my back and-" Sasuke's hand was placed over her mouth.

"I heard what we have to do." He said in almost a whisper, removing his hand so she could breathe.

"Okay," She said after a gulp of air. "PLEASE will you?" The onyx-eyed boy sighed again.

"Pleeeeeeeease?!" His eyes traveled to his shoes, the ceiling, Ino, who looked very hopefully at him, and back to Sakura.

"... Fine."

"Yes!" Sakura said, throwing her arms around his and pecking his lips.

"Thank you Sasuke!" Ino said happily.

"So, this is all going down at the Halloween party?" Sakura asked.

"Mmhmm. But remember, it's costumes only!" Ino said, winking and disappearing into her bedroom.

"I know!" Ayame said. "Let's all go costume shopping together! The four of us, like a double date!"

"Sounds fun!" Sakura said happily.

"Hn."

"Okay sure, 'tebayo!"

The group of four proceeded to the bus stop and waited patiently for a bus to the big Halloween store on Fifth street.

"This is gonna be soooooooo fun!" Ayame said happily.

"Yeah!" Naruto agreed, draping an arm around his girlfriend's shoulder.

"Mmhmm!" Sakura said.

"Hn."

The bus came to a stop in front of a large store. Halloween City.

"Yay!" Ayame said, grabbing Naruto's hand and forcing him to run as fast as she did inside. Sakura and Sasuke simply walked inside slowly.

"You kissed me."

"SAKURA-CHAN! LOOK at this cute costume I found!" Ayame screamed, rushing over to the pair and grabbing Sakura's wrist.

"I know. I can do that too." She replied before being dragged to the women's costumes. Ayame held up a costume labeled "Wicked Witch," which Sakura though should have said "Witch Who Needs to Learn to Keep Her Clothes On."

"It's kinda slutty, don't you think?" Sakura asked.

"Okay, maybe a little, but it's super cute right?! And it's not like Ino-chan won't wear something twice as bad as this..."

"Well, you're not wrong about that..." Sakura replied. "I think it'd totally work on you!"

"Thanks!" Ayame replied. "But I already have a costume. Whatever! I'll get one size up and wear it next year! Now, what should we get you? Hmm... How about Sexy Nurse? Cuz, ya know, you're going to medical school?"

"Umm, no."

"Don't be such a SQUARE!" Ayame said, pulling the costume off the shelf and holding it up to Sakura's figure.

"Ooh it looks GREAT!" Sakura stared at it, a look of disgust in her eyes.

"A-are you sure?"

"Yeah!" Sakura held up the costume in front of a mirror. The skirt stopped only about three inches after her butt did. The neckline went so far down she was afraid her bellybutton would show if she wore it. There was a stethoscope and a little hat too.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah totally!" The pinkette cracked.

"Fine. But I'm NOT charging THIS to my credit card."

"I'll make Naruto-kun pay for everything, don't worry!"

"I wonder what Sasuke-kun and Naruto and getting..." Sakura said, trying not to let her friend hear her. But she did.

"Let's go see!" She grabbed Sakura wrist and they made their way to the men's costumes.

* * *

"So dumbass," Sasuke said, watching his friend fish through racks of clothes. "How're things with Ayame?"

"Good, 'tebayo. I mean, you still can't have her-"

"I don't want her. But she's like Sakura, right?"

"I still can't believe you want dating advice from me, dipshit."

"Shut up." Sasuke replied.

"So, aren't you looking for a costume?"

"No." Naruto stopped what he was doing.

"Why not?"

"Because Halloween is stupid."

"How the hell is free candy and dressing up like anything you possibly want stupid?"

"That question answers itself."

"You're such a SQAURE!"

"Sakura already found a costume." Sasuke said, his eyes trying to avoid the short-skirted costume in Sakura's hands, who had come running over to the pair with Ayame.

"You could be a doctor then!" Ayame said, pulling a costume off the rack and holding it up, quickly replacing it with a bigger size.

"Umm..." Sasuke quickly realized how futile arguing with someone even more hardheaded than Sakura was. "Fine. Give me that stupid thing Ayame." She handed it to him.

"Yay!"

"So, what're you two going as?" Sakura asked, noticing the absence of costumes in both of their hands.

"Sheldon and Amy from The Big Bang Theory."

"Really?" Sakura asked. "I'd think you two would go as Leonard and Penny."

"Nope! We wanted to be the nerds!" Ayame said happily.

"Let's go! The party's tomorrow and I promised Ino-chan I'd help her put up decorations, 'tebayo." Naruto said, rubbing his hair with one hand.

"Finally." Sasuke said.

A few minutes later, the group was sitting on the uncomfortable chairs of the bus back to the Princeton campus. Naruto and Ayame sat close together, Ayame's arms linked around his. Sasuke and Sakura sat next to each other, silently holding hands for the remainder of the bus ride.

"So Sakura-chan," Ayame said. "How's this gonna work anyway? From what I can tell, Ino pulled that plan out of her butt and didn't even begin to consider what could go wrong..."

"Ino's like that," Sakura replied. "But from what I could tell, Naruto has to completely avoid me at all costs. To him, it's like I have Swine Flu or something. If we don't talk, Lee can't start his plan at all."

"And I have to be the best boyfriend ever."

"But you aren't her boyfriend, 'tebayo..." Naruto said, scratching his head, confused.

"You dumbass..."

"I already knew that," Ayame said with a shrug. "You two don't act like a real couple. Although, kissing Sasuke was a good move and something any respectful girlfriend who has a boyfriend as hot as Sasuke Uchiha would do."

"Excuse me?"

"What? He's hot, any girl in the world could say that." She said blatantly. Sakura giggled.

"Thanks, Ayame-chan, but I think that Sasuke can pull off "World's Best Boyfriend" for one night."

"I dunno... He seems kinda sketchy. Have you ever been in a real relationship, Sasuke?"

"No."

"A date?"

"No."

"Have you ever been told by a girl that they liked you?"

"Yes. 2,485 times, actually." A vein throbbed in the raven-haired girl's forehead.

"N-no! I meant that have YOU ever told a girl you liked THEM?"

"Oh. No."

"But then why'd you agree to this, 'tebayo?"

"Shut up, Naruto..."

"You mean Sasuke-kun has a crush on me?"

"I'm led to believe that, 'tebayo." The blonde replied.

"Let's just go home." Sasuke said, opening the dorm building doors.

"You do like me don't you?" Sakura replied, poking his cheek.

"If you three are going to falsely accuse me, I'm going to go back to my own college." The Uchiha said sternly.

"Well aren't you just a party-pooper..." Ayame said, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms.

"Just being honest." He replied.

Three days dragged on forever. By the time Friday came, Sakura was ready to quit the plan altogether. She was fed up with all the decorations in her dorm and the fact that she couldn't sit down for twenty seconds without Ino saying she needed something done. Naruto and Ayame were almost never around because of this, and Hinata had spent the past few days practically living in the school's library.

"Aren't you soooooooo excited for tonight, Sakura-chan? I know I am!" Ino cooed to her roommate, who was presently trying to take a quick nap on the couch.

"Hn..." She grunted, turning over.

"Sasuke sure has rubbed off on you. He's such a terrible boyfriend..."

_Oh yeah._ Sakura thought._ Ino-chan doesn't know that Sasuke isn't my boyfriend. I should probably tell h- _**What are you thinking?! That is NOT a good idea!** Inner screamed at her. _What, why not? Don't Ino and Hinata deserve to know about this by now?_** No, they don't. Sakura, there is only reason you still have a "relationship" with Sasuke-kun, and that is the fact that almost nobody knows. Naruto and Ayame are good people who know when to keep their traps shut. Well, maybe not Naruto, but you get my point right? If you tell Hinata she'll tell Ino, and if she tells Ino, Ino will tell EVERYONE.** _Dammit. I hate it when you're right..._ **Damn right, I'm right! Shannaro!** _Oh shut up. I've been annoyed a lot this week. These people give me headaches._ **Uh-huh.**_ What does "uh-huh" mean?_ **Nothin'... **_Bullshit. What does it mean? _**Like I said, nothing. **Sakura shrugged off her Inner Self.

"Hey Sakura-chan, could you help me with this food? I just need you to help put it in the fridge. I PROMISE I'll do all the cooking." Ino called from the door.

"Yeah sure, whatever." She was glad to be away from Inner. She sure could be a bitch sometimes.

Sakura stood up, walking to the fridge and throwing it open, setting all of the groceries in the appropriate place-

"Ino-chan? Is this vodka?"

"Huh? Oh god, gimme that!" She snatched it up and threw it in a cabinet.

"Why did you buy that? HOW did you buy that? You're only nineteen!"

"I had a guy buy it for me, of course. It wouldn't be a fun party if the punch wasn't spiked, Forehead." Sakura shot daggers at Ino, mentioning her childhood nickname.

"Look, Piggy," Sakura replied. "You're under-aged, everyone is. We shouldn't be doing that."

"You're such a square. Now just let me do my cooking." Suddenly, the door handle was turned and Sasuke walked in, holding up a grocery bag full of candies.

"Did you..? Yay! You got the right kind of candy!" Ino ran over and snatched up the bag. She turned to Sakura. "He got the wrong candy when we went to the store earlier and I made him go back for the right kind."

"Ah." Sasuke sat down on the couch and sighed, turning on the TV.

"Sasuke-kun? Is something wrong?"

"No. Why?"

"No reason. You just seem a little depressed, that's all." Sakura said.

"I'm just ready to go back to Harvard." He replied.

"Oh... Well, you can go back as soon as the party's over!" She replied cheerfully.

"Okay. I'm just starting to think my professors are going to have a wheelbarrow of homework for me since I've been here for over a month..."

"Oh! Well, just call and ask 'em for your homework!"

"I guess I'll do that." He said, grabbing his phone and walking outside.

"I doubt that's why he wants to leave..." Ino said after he was gone.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm just saying, Sasuke-kun could probably get out of shitloads of homework with those looks, why would he care?"

"Hey, he's mine, keep your socially awkward penguin, Ino-chan."

"Socially...? Oh! That's mean to say about Sai-kun!"

"Uh-huh."

"But anyways, Sasuke's probably just bored of staying here for so long."

"He's going home tomorrow." Sakura replied. "He's probably failed all his classes because of this... The Halloween party's tonight, isn't it?"

"Yup!" She cackled like a witch. "And you better be there girlie." Sakura nodded and rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, Ino. I'm gonna go study. I have a biology test tomorrow."

"Okay! Well, see you at the party tonight, Saku!"


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

* * *

Later that evening, guests started to arrive. The numbers were small at first but when the first picture of Sasuke got out of Facebook and Instagram, there were between twenty and thirty people showing up every ten minutes. Of course, Ino turned away anyone who wasn't invited, the only exception being if the costume you had on was AMAZING.

Inside the dorm, the Vodka Ino bought for the punch sure was working. Kids were doing stupid shit everywhere you looked.

Lee arrived about twenty minutes late and Ino was forced to let him in. Naruto and Ayame were talking over by the kitchen, while Sasuke and Sakura were leaned up against the wall be Sakura's bedroom, observing everything going on.

"Sakura-chan!" Lee said happily, walking over to the girl and her "boyfriend".

"Hey, Lee." Sakura said, taking another sip of water. "You two aren't talking to Naruto?"

"Nah," Sakura said, "I'm kinda sick, I don't want to get anyone sick."

"Then why's Sasuke here?"

"Because if I'm sick, I don't have to go back to Harvard tomorrow." Sasuke deadpanned, taking another sip of pop.

"Oh. Well," Lee said, "I'm gonna go talk to Kyra and Isabelle. Bye~!" He waved and walked away towards Naruto and Ayame, despite his comment about talking to the two girls.

"So," Sakura said once she was sure Lee couldn't hear her, "You really leaving tomorrow?" Sasuke's breath released slowly.

"Yeah," he said after a minute, "I've overstayed my welcome."

"You're always welcome here," Sakura said, "I mean… like… you know…"

"Yeah, I get it," Sasuke said with a small smirk, "Do you think this plan to get Lee gone will work?"

"Nothing else has worked," Sakura said, "so why should I expect this plan to? I'm probably just going to have to face the fact that he's a disease I can't get rid of. And… if I have to be okay with that, then so be it."

"You can't be serious," Sasuke said, "Diseases can be killed."

"Diseases can come back even after you're sure they're gone. I'm a med student, Sasuke-kun. I think I know what I'm talking about when I refer to Lee as a disease."

"You're probably right," Sasuke said, "But why do you think he likes you so much?"

"I don't know. Why would anyone like me? Even Naruto gave up on me." Sasuke frowned at her.

"You shouldn't beat yourself up like that," he said.

"Why can't I? Once again, I'm a med student, I could kill myself if I wanted to." Sakura replied, taking another sip of water.

"I think the water's spiked too, honey. Quit drinking it." Sasuke said, giving her his cup.

"It has nothing to do with this. I was making a factual statement." Sakura replied, taking back her cup.

"An extremely morbid factual statement." Sakura rolled her eyes at his comment.

"Yeah, yeah," she said, "Hey Sasuke?" **No. God. What are you doing? Stop it. **

"Hm?"

"Did you ever think that… maybe we shouldn't have gone to that stupid dance together?"

"What makes you say that?" He asked, giving her an interested look.

"Well," Sakura began, "if we hadn't, you wouldn't have owed me a favor so you wouldn't have had to come."

"I… probably would've come anyway." Sasuke said, looking into the space between Sakura's face and his own.

"You… would've?"

"Absolutely. You're my friend after all." Sasuke said.

"Don't bullshit me, Sasuke-kun."

"I'm not bullshitting you!"

"Really? You're telling me," Sakura said, sarcasm dripping off each word, "that even if you DIDN'T owe me a favor, you would've dropped EVERYTHING and come to Princeton just to be my fake boyfriend for a couple weeks?" He nodded.

"Yeah," he said, "I… you deserve to be happy, and if being your fake boyfriend to get a creepy guy with huge eyebrows off your back will make you happy, then I'll help with that." Sakura found herself blushing.

"You did all this," she said quietly, "for… me?"

"Uh-huh." Sasuke said, keeping his eyes directed to various things around the room. There was a kid bobbing for apples who hadn't poked his head out of the water in a couple minutes. A girl he assumed was the kid's girlfriend kept shaking his shoulder saying,

"Ben? Ben? Hey, Ben, are you okay?" His head exploded from out of the water and he spit several apples out of his mouth, hacking and coughing up water.

"Shit," he said, "thought I was gonna die for a second there!" He started laughing.

Sasuke's eyes went to Naruto and Ayame, having a conversation with Lee that Sasuke couldn't quite hear. They didn't seem to be arguing or anything, just… talking. It make Sasuke's stomach hurt not knowing what they were talking about. He and Sakura? Sakura? HIM?

"You okay, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.

"What do you think they're talking about?"

"Who cares?"

"I mean, what if it's important."

"I'm telling you," Naruto almost screamed, "black and white AREN'T colors! They're shades!"

"No," Lee said, "they're fucking colors!"

"They're arguing now…" Sakura said, intently watching the group.

"Are you worried yet?" Sasuke asked. Sakura nodded. "What would they possibly be saying?"

"COLOR!"

"SHADE!"

"COLOR!"

"SHADE!"

"AYAME!"

"I'm not joining in on your retard argument, Naruto-kun," Ayame said, holding up her hands, "I personally couldn't care less about whether or not black is a color."

"Aren't these the things girls care about?" Lee asked.

"You did NOT just stereotype me." The bushy-browed man gulped.

"Of… of course not, Ayame!" Ayame's eyebrow twitched and Sasuke got the feeling he and Sakura should probably stop listening in.

"Well," he said, leaning away from the conversation, "apparently Naruto doesn't have enough self-control to keep himself from arguing about something completely stupid." Sasuke leaned back against the wall again and Sakura took her place next to him.

"Why can't I talk to Naruto and Ayame again?" Sakura wined, looking at her friends, "I'm bored!"

"Aren't I good enough?" Sasuke said, pretending to be hurt. "Shut it, pretty boy…" Sakura said with a smile.

"But being serious," Sasuke replied, "you know Lee would try something if you got close to Naruto and Ayame." Sakura's eyes rolled.

"Yeah," she said, "I know." her eyes drifted down to the empty cup in her hand. "More punch," she demanded. Sasuke shot her a look, "please?" He smiled and took the cup. Sakura smirked and walked over to where Ayame was trying to force Lee away from Naruto.

Sakura flicked Lee's face and the man slinked away. _For now,_ he thought. _I'll be back soon, Sakura-cha~an._

"God he's a pain," Ayame said once Naruto had cooled down.

"Black isn't a fucking color." Naruto growled menacingly.

"… You were arguing about colors?"

"Shades!" Naruto said, "Black is a shade!"

"When we the last time he got some sleep?" Sakura asked Ayame.

"Last night," Ayame replied, "the little softie was asleep before me!" The girls laughed, looking at- the empty space where Uzumaki Naruto should've been standing.

"Where'd he go?" Sakura asked. Her jade eyes scanned the room and spotted Naruto and Sasuke, laughing and talking over by the bobbing for apples tub. She pointed and thumb in their direction. The girls laughed and continued talking.

* * *

Rock Lee sat near a corner, intently watching the conversations between Naruto and Sasuke and Sakura and Ayame. He bit his lip, waiting for the right moment to give one of them just a little push. His phone buzzed in his pants pocket. He grabbed it, inspecting the text message.

_Youre an idiot, its never going to work_

Lee rolled his eyes.

"What does Neji know?" He asked himself.

"A hell of a lot more than you do." Ino Yamanaka said from behind him. Her hand touched his shoulder and she stared at his phone, "What's not gonna work?"

"N-nothing, Yamanaka… pleasedonthurtme." the last part was whispered, but Ino heard it and laughed.

"Hurt you? Why would I do that? I'm not a monster! Besides, I'd like to see how you try to pull off breaking up Sasuke and Sakura . Those two are tight. Like this." she crossed her fingers. "Yeah."

"… Are you drunk?" Lee asked, raising a bushy eyebrow.

"Maybe a lil. I'm fine," she waved her hand and sipped at the drink residing in the red solo cup, "so, how're you gonna do it? Make Sakura kiss Naruto? That won't work. Sasuke's going home tomorrow anyway! I think you should just accept that Saku doesn't like you and get a move on with your life." Ino slumped down against the wall, "I feel like shit…" she grumbled, leaning her head back.

"Why should I move on?" Lee asked, "If I don't move on, eventually she could like me."

"Or, she and Sasuke could get married. Never know! They could get married and have lots of babies and you could miss a great girl right in front of you!" Lee cast her a look. "No. No, no, no. I said in FRONT of you, I'm NEXT to you. I got my baby Sai anyway. Maybe…" Ino squinted and scanned the crowd of people, "Her?" she pointed to a girl wearing a batgirl costume. She had poorly dyed her hair black. There were hints of strawberry blonde if you looked hard. She had what appeared to be brown eyes.

"She's in my Spanish class," Ino said, "she juts broke up with her bf. She's pretty depressed about it. Name's Anais I think." Lee looked at her, and said,

"She seems nice, but I really do like Sakura-chan."

"I get you, I getcha." Ino tipped over her cup and watched a single drop of liquid come dripping out. She frowned.

* * *

Elsewhere, Naruto and Sasuke were talking about Sakura.

"Do you really think you're going to be able to leave tomorrow, 'tebayo? Lee's probably still gonna harass Sakura." Sasuke smiled.

"She can take care of herself. She's strong. Kickass." He said. Naruto laughed a bit, taking a sip of his drink.

"True, true," he said, "Do you think you'll tell her how you really feel?" Sasuke almost laughed.

"Even if I do," he said, finishing off his glass, "what are the chances she'll feel that way about me?" He grabbed the bottle of Pepsi out of Sakura's fridge and filled up his solo cup.

"I don't know," Naruto said, "she does like you a lot, tebayo." He held out his cup and Sasuke poured some Pepsi in it.

"Yeah," Sasuke said, "but I still don't want to risk throwing away whatever… this… is because of something stupid like love or romance."

"This is the weirdest thing ever," Naruto said with a chuckle, "the mighty Sasuke Uchiha is trapped in the Friend Zone. You PUT people in the Friend Zone, dipshit." Sasuke rolled his eyes and thought about pouring his drink over Naruto's shitty bleach-blond hair. "But in any event," Naruto continued, "I still think you should go for it. Sakura could be like Konan, perfect in every strange aspect."

"Sakura isn't like Konan, dumbass. Sakura is perfect in all aspects."

"Ooooooooh… Sasuke's in loooo-ooove."

"Drop dead," Sasuke said, taking a sip of soda, "So what if I do, and that was fucking obvious anyway. Sakura doesn't know, or at least I hope she doesn't and I hope she never will. I just like being her friend, even if I do want something more. I'm okay with what we have now."

"I don't think you realize," Naruto said, setting his cup down on the counter and looking directly at Sasuke with a stupid grin, "what you have now is a relationship? It might be a shitty, half-assed FAKE relationship, but you're dating, dipshit." Sasuke deadpanned at his own stupidity. How could he not have realized that before?! He smacked his forehead with his palm.

"Shit," he said, very uncharacteristically, panic ringing in the back of his tone, "what do I do? I've never felt like this before. All girls were to me were just things that came and went, but with Sakura it's like… I don't know. Like something else…"

"Dude," Naruto said, picking his cup back up, "You like her. A lot. It's not that hard to figure out. Just tell her how you feel!"

"That sounds like a shit-terrible idea!" Sasuke said, casting a glance towards where Sakura and Ayame were pleasantly talking,

"Maybe when Ayame leaves. I'll talk to her- Naruto?" There was an empty space where Sasuke's best friend was standing a moment ago. He glanced towards Sakura and Ayame again and found the blonde chatting to both of them. He looked around the room for the bushy-browed moron waiting for Sakura and Naruto to start talking. He was sitting in a corner by the boom box chatting with Ino while she, clearly drunk, pointed to different girl in the room.

"What're you staring at?" Sasuke jumped slightly and tensed at the sound of his pink-haired "girlfriend's" voice. Sakura stood behind him in her sexy nurse costume, one hand on her hip.

"Nothing, actually," he replied, straightening his scrubs. Sakura smirked and said,

"Yeah right." She grabbed a glass out of one of the cabinets and filled it with water from the fridge, pulling some ice out of the freezer.

"Have you seen Hinata anywhere?" Sasuke asked, turning towards Sakura. "She didn't lock herself in the library, did she?"

"I don't remember…" Sakura said, flicking her eyes towards the direction of Hinata's room, "Lemme check her room."

The pinkette walked towards her roommate's room and flung the door open. The room was silent and empty, smelling a tiny bit like the flowery, innocent perfume her friend wore.

"Huh," Sasuke said from behind her, "guess she isn't here." Sakura shrugged, returning to her spot by the fridge. She picked up a paper plate and fanned herself with it for a moment before saying, "Why the hell is it so hot in here?!"

"My guess," Sasuke said, taking another gulp of Pepsi, "is that there are 20 times more people in this tiny form than there should be." Sakura nodded in agreement. She glanced over to where her 'stalker' was sitting against a wall. Ino had left him and was now texting. She figured it was Sai. The tiny bright-green oven clock on her right said 11:38. She handed Sasuke her cup and stood up on the table in the middle of the room.

"ALRIGHT!" She screamed. The music cut and the people stopped talking, "I know who got an invitation and who didn't. Anyone who DIDN'T on…" she looked at the side over by the bedrooms and pointed to it, "THAT side, GET THE FUCK OUT." She immediately got down from the table and forced about twenty people from the dorm.

"What was that for?" Sasuke asked, "Lee could put his fucked-up plan into action even easier now."

"Yeah, yeah," Sakura replied, "I was suffocating, it was so hot. I just cooled the room down a bit."

"Sakura, it's October. In about a half-hour, it'll be November. It's cold enough as is." Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but not when you're packed in like sardines in a room that should only support like 30 or 40 people!" She replied hastily, "It gets hot as hell then!" Sasuke wrapped his arm around Sakura's shoulder, pulling her closer to him.

"You sure there's no alcohol in your drink, Saku?" Sakura smiled and laughed.

"Pretty sure, dipshit." she replied with a smirk and a wink.

On the other side of the room, Naruto sneezed.

"Why are you doing that?" Sakura asked after a minute or so.

"What?" Sasuke replied.

"You have your arm around my shoulder. You don't actually," she turned to him to speak, "like me, do you?" Sasuke smiled.

"I'm your fake boyfriend, remember? I have to act like a real one, don't I?"

"You're dodging my question," Sakura responded, "do you like me or don't you?" **Sakura, you know the answer. **_Shut it, I want to hear him say it._

"Sure I like you," Sasuke said.

"What does that mean?" Sakura replied, crossing her arms.

"Probably this." Sasuke turned Sakura around and kissed her lips. The girl's emerald eyes grew wide before closing and giving in.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: Final Chapter**

* * *

Ino practically jumped across the room to Naruto and Ayame.

"LOOK AT THAT HOW CUTE ARE THEEEEEEEYYY!" She said, pointing a finger in the direction of the pair.

"Oh my god, they're _so cute!_" Ayame squealed. Naruto just smirked.

Immediately, Ino rushed most of the party out, including Lee, who was having too much fun talking the strawberry blonde batgirl to care.

Hinata pushed her way through the crowd and stood dead in her tracks before she entered the kitchen. She smiled and pointed a thumb.

"Knew it." She whispered. "That's too good to be faked." Ino and Ayame made overly-happy faces.

* * *

Sasuke pulled away from Sakura. Her face was deep red.

"I… I…" She whispered. Sasuke smirked. Sakura continued to stammer before reaching across the countertop where she was sitting and drinking a third of a bottle of vodka in a couple of gulps.

"What do you think you're doing?" Sasuke asked her, pulling the bottle away from her and putting it in the fridge. "I thought you said you weren't going to drink?"

"I changed my mind. Gimme back the bottle."

"Nope." Sakura poked him between the eyes and sighed. She stared deep into Sasuke's eyes, trying to get him to break and give her back the bottle. After a minute or so, she became transfixed in the onyx orbs. Out of nowhere, she wrapped her arms around his neck, pressed her forehead to his and said,

"Maybe I like you too." She pressed her lips to his.

**-The-Next-Day-**

Sakura woke early the next morning, and quickly got dressed. She knew Sasuke would try to be up and out before ten, so she was up and ready by seven forty-five, making a nice breakfast for the both of them. Bacon, eggs, pancakes, toast, orange juice, etc.

Sasuke awoke to the smell and sound of frying bacon. He sat up from his position on the couch and looked at Sakura, busily trying to make bacon and pancakes at the same time.

"Need a little help?" He asked, startling the girl.

"No, I don't need help. But thanks anyway. And for the heart attack. I always enjoy those." Sasuke chuckled and walked over to her, kissing her lips quickly before sitting down at the breakfast bar.

"You're welcome, by the way." Sakura said, setting two big plates of food on the breakfast bar and putting the rest in the fridge for Ino and Hinata to eat when they woke up.

"Thanks," Sasuke said, stabbing his eggs with a fork and beginning to eat them.

"These are good, I like them."

"Thanks." Sakura replied, sitting down next to him and beginning to eat. "These actually are good."

"Told you."

"Do you really have to go today?" Sakura asked quietly.

"Yeah," Sasuke replied, "I've been gone so long, and as far as my teachers know, I've been at my great-grandfather's funeral. He "died" at 102." Sakura giggled.

"Nice." She said, taking a sip of orange juice.

* * *

"You really do have a nice car," Sakura remarked as Sasuke slammed the trunk of his Prius shut.

"Thanks." Sasuke replied. "Itachi bought it for me when I went to college."

"Well," Sakura said and Sasuke unlocked the doors, "Thanks for being my fake boyfriend. And… you're going to stay my real boyfriend, right?" Sasuke smirked and kissed her.

"Of course. I'll be your real boyfriend until you decide otherwise. Because I think I've finally found someone worth keeping." And with that, Sasuke kissed Sakura one more time, got into his car, and drove off, back to his university four and a half hours away.


	17. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**I actually managed to make this several thousand words shorter than the original story. I don't know how I managed that.**

* * *

Seven years and 10 months had passed since that morning, when Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno kissed, sitting at the breakfast bar in a dormitory at Princeton University.

Standing at a podium, smiling to the world, was Sakura Haruno, just finishing college. She still had her residency to complete, but she was overjoyed that she had completed her degree and could soon by licensed to be a pediatrician.

What she was most thrilled by was moving out of her dorm, and moving into a small apartment shared with her boyfriend of all those seven years and 10 months; Sasuke Uchiha. Only graduating law school two years prior, Sasuke was an accomplished lawyer, set out to over-shine his brother, sitting next to him with his wife. Also in the audience was Rock Lee, who went back to the army after undergraduate school, and his fiancé, Anais, the strawberry blonde batgirl who he talked to all the way back to her dorm that night seven years and 10 months ago, began to date six years and 11 months ago, and proposed to one year and 5 months ago.

Smiling on the stage were Sakura's best friends; Ino Yamanaka, and Hinata Hyuuga. In the audience, their boyfriends, one graduated, on never gone to college, and waiting for when the loves of their lives can go home with them.

Seven years, 10 months, and a day later, Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha lie, cuddled next to each other, fingers intertwined, watching TV for the first time in seven years and 10 months. The light from the show they aren't paying attention to is the only light in the apartment; the sound fills the room.

All is right with the world, seven years and 10 months later. Neither could ask for anything else; neither desired to break the silence. The unspoken words flowed through the apartment as Sakura rested her head on his shoulder, and Sasuke kissed the top of her head.

_I love you. I've loved you for longer than I was ever aware. I want nothing else than to sit with you, to kiss you, to tell you I love you, over and over again. _

_You mean more to me than anything, even seven years and 10 months later._


End file.
